The Machine
by Marsdog
Summary: After an attack on the 501st Joint Fighter Wings base they are transported to a world in ruin where everything is trying to kill them. Can they make it home alive? Their only hope is the mysterious Brotherhood of Steel but as their war with the Enclave escalating will they even be able to help the witches.
1. The Assault

501st Joint Fighter Wing Base Britannia

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

The warm morning air blows across the base. It brings the sweet scent of the flowers with it as the breeze enters the base through open windows. Lynne was awake and siting at her desk writing a letter home to her family. Smelling the flowery air being blown into her room she is completely at ease with the world. As she finishes her letter she looks over to see her sleeping roommate resting peacefully as the sun starts to rise.

Yoshika's face was so beautiful epically when she slept, her skin looked so smooth and her eyes, her eyes were always a lovely brown. Her personality was also amazing as she would never give up and always saw the good in people no matter how evil they are. Lynne finds she can't take her eyes off of Yoshika's sleeping face and spends the next couple of minutes staring at it until Yoshika started to stir and wake up.

"Good morning Yoshika" Lynne says as her friend gets up and rubs her eyes.

"Morning Lynne" Yoshika replies as she yawns. Yoshika was always slow to get up in the morning and today was no different. She sat on her bed for few minutes stretching and yawning as she tried to fight the urge to go back sleep. "Why are you up so early?" Yoshika finally asks as she gets out of bed.

"Oh I had a few letters to write" Lynne replies as she stares at Yoshika's naked body. Last night was blisteringly hot so both Lynne and Yoshika ended up sleeping naked.

"Who did you write to?" Yoshika asks as she puts on a swimsuit that Fuso girls wear for some reason.

"Just back home to my family" Lynne cheerfully responds as she seals the letter in an envelope.

"That's nice I'm sure they will be glad to hear from you" Yoshika replies as she walks up to Lynne and grabs her arm. "Come on we have breakfast to make"

"So let's go" Lynne smiles as she lets Yoshika drag her out of the room. They walk through the halls of the base towards the kitchen looking out over the Britannia coast with the cool coastal breeze refreshing their hot sweaty skin. The day has only just begun but already it was boiling hot and Yoshika and Lynne are beginning to sweat uncontrollably. "It sure is hot today" Lynne says as she wipes her forehead clear of sweat.

"Yeah I've never sweated so much in my life" Yoshika relies as they enter the kitchen. "I don't think we should make anything hot for breakfast"

"Good idea" Lynne says as she gets a glass of water. "Do you want a drink?"

"Yes please" Yoshika nods as watches Lynne pour herself a glass of cool clear water.

"So what are we making for breakfast then?" Lynne asks as she hands Yoshika a glass of water.

"I think we should just make sushi" Yoshika suggests.

"Sounds great" Lynne replies.

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

Sakamoto has been practicing her sword swings in the court yard since dawn with Minna watching and encouraging her. She always gets up early and homes her swordsmanship. She normally works up a good sweat when she trains but with the heart wave that is currently affecting the south of Britannia she's literally standing in a puddle of her own sweat. Minna is standing nearby holding a towel and a bottle of water for the Major when she stops.

"Dam this heat; I can only get half my training done" Sakamoto curses under her breath but not quite enough for Minna to not hear.

"Calm yourself Major you'll only end up with heat stroke if you get worked up" Minna says as she walks up to her friend and offers her the towel and water she was holding. "Come on I spotted Yoshika and Lynne heading to the kitchen so breakfast will be ready soon"

"Good I'm starving" Sakamoto replies as she and Minna start to head inside.

* * *

Perrine H. Clostermann

Perrine was in her room overlooking the courtyard watching Major Sakamoto train. She has been watching her train every morning since they meet Perrine was feeling the heat just as much of everybody else and is forced to watch her beloved major wearing nothing but her underwear. Her room was dark so no one would spot her spying on the major. She so wishes to be closer to her. She gets so jealous of Yoshika who the major seems to spend too much time with.

"Why does Major Sakamoto like that stupid raccoon dog more than me? What does she have that I don't?" Perrine quietly says to herself as she watches the major and commander walk inside towards the dining hall. "Major, don't be drawn in so easily by that country pumpkins food. I can cook you food way better than her?"

"Is someone jealous?" someone whispers into Perrine's ear. She quickly turns round ad spots Shirley standing over her with a grin on her face and Lucchini standing at her side looking amused.

"I am most certainly not jealous" Perrine replies as she regains her composer. "I have no idea what you are on about"

"You such a liar we heard everything" Shirley answers with a big laugh.

"Yeah we heard everything" Lucchini adds. "Oh Major Sakamoto eat my food not Yoshika's"

"Oh Major ditch that raccoon dog and come with me" Shirley says joining in on Lucchini's mocking.

"Shut up both of you!" Perrine snaps. "I am a lady of Gallia not some jealous commoner"

"Yeah sure you keep telling yourself that" Shirley says as she Lucchini leave. "But you better move fast if you don't want to lose her"

"Don't worry me and Major Sakamoto won't loss each other any time soon!" Perrine shouts after them as they shut her bedroom door behind them as they leave.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

The room she shares with Erica is a mess mostly due to Erica's clutter which litters the floor and covers her friend's bed forcing her to sleep on the cold hard floor. Erica was lead on the floor wrapped up in a thin bed sheet sleeping calmly on the floor ignoring the morning trumpet that raises everyone from their slumber.

"Come on Hartmann get up!" Gertrud yells as she violently shakes her roommates and best friends shoulder after ten minutes of trying to wake her up gently. "Breakfast will be ready soon and the morning trumpet has already gone off!"

"It's too hot" Erica moans as she tries to get back to sleep. "Wake me up when its cooler"

"No Hartmann you are getting up now!" Gertrud yells back as she turns bright red only now realizing Erica is lying naked on the floor. "For god sake get dressed a soldier of Karlsland must never look indecent"

"I will when it's cooler" Erica whines again as she gets up and sleepily rub's her eyes and yawns. "I'll be ok eating breakfast lie this"

"No you won't now get dressed!" Gertrud shouts at her as she tries to overcome her embarrassment. "You can't eat breakfast naked it's indecent and apart from Shirley and Eila now one else will like to see you like this"

"You'll be alright if it was Miyafuji naked instead of me won't you?" Erica teases as she rummages through the mess around her for her cloths.

"What are you on about I would never even think about something like that let alone allow it now get dressed we're already late" Gertrud states as she turns away as her chees begin to turn red.

"I bet you are thinking about Yoshika now" Erica continues to tease as she passes Gertrud now fully dressed and notice her red cheeks. "You are probably picturing her serving breakfast wearing only an apron"

"I am not now hurry up we are late" Gertrud snaps back as she grabs Erica's wrists and drags her towards the dining hall.

"You're too easy to read Trude" Erica giggles as she lets herself be dragged away.

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila was just waking up as the morning trumpet sounded through the building. She looked around her blacked out room and spots what she was looking for. Her best friend Sanya sleeping soundly on top of her bed in her underwear with black ear moths over her ears blocking out the sound of the trumpets. Eila brought her those ear moths last year when she was on leave, visiting her family back in Suomus. After seeing her friend sleeping safe in her bed Eila got up and dressed into her uniform.

She left her room on her tiptoes and quietly walked down the hall so she doesn't wake Sanya towards the delicious smell of what most be Yoshika's cooking. She quietly enters the dining hall looking around to see who was already here. She was the last witch to arrive not including Sanya of cause and everyone else was already sitting at the table waiting for breakfast.

"Morning Eila" Yoshika calls as she and Lynne enter carrying a tray each of what looks like sushi.

"Morning" Eila replies as she takes a seat between to Lucchini and Erica. Everyone including Eila was sweating and already feeling the heat of the sun even though it has only just started to rise.

"When's this heat wave going to pass?" Lucchini cry's as she flops down onto the table as Yoshika places a plate of sushi in front of her.

"Yeah it's too hot and I think the Neuroi agree with me as they haven't attacked in this heat yet" Erica adds as she also rests her head on the table. The table cloth is immediately drenched in sweat and a dark pool can be seen around both Lucchini's and Erica's head.

"The Neuroi may not have attacked lately but that doesn't mean it is because of the heat Hartmann" Gertrud says as she picks her friends head up off the table. "So stop whining and eat your breakfast"

"She's right Erica" Minna adds. "We can't let our guard down no matter how hot it is"

"Yeah and that means that training is still n or today ladies" Sakamoto says causing everyone to sigh. "Is that a problem" Sakamoto calls out while giving everyone a scary smile.

"No ma'am" Everyone replies.

"Good but due to the heat it is mainly going to be target practice on the firing range" Sakamoto says to everyone's relief.

"Don't overdo it though" Minna cheerfully adds. "I don't want to lose anyone to heat stroke ok"

"Yes ma'am" Everyone replies as they begin to eat. Yoshika and Lynne did a great job like they always do when it comes to cooking. The may have a lot of work to do when it comes to fighting but their food they make is in a class of its own and there is not a chef on earth who can match them.

"This is delicious Yoshika can I have so more" Lucchini asks with her mouth still full

"Sure I just go get some more" Yoshika replies as she walks back into the kitchen

"Francesca, don't talk with your mouth full" Shirley tells the young witch. She would have been more convincing if she hadn't have told her with her mouth full too.

"You two have no manners" Perrine says as she pokes at her food to see if it is alive.

"Yeah we know we don't that's what makes us so fun and loveable" Lucchini replies with a giggle and her mouth still full with food. At this point Yoshika returns with more food for the young witch and sets it down in front of her.

"Come on Perrine you should learn to have a little fun once in a while" Shirley tells her as she finishes her plate.

"I would rather be boring than do something as disgusting as that" Perrine replies before taking her first bite of sushi.

"Hey Trude you could earn to have some fun too" Erica teases her friend as she steals some sushi from her fork.

"Hey Erica that was mine" Gertrud replies as she pulls her fork from Erica's mouth. "And I do have fun from time to time"

"Only when Chris is around though" Erica says as she nudges Gertrud's arm causing her to drop a piece of sushi she had just picked up with her fork.

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika and Lynne were in the kitchen washing up after breakfast. The day was only getting hotter as the sun continued to rise and even though they were only washing dishes the heat still made them both sweaty and exhausted. It takes them a lot longer than usual to wash the dishes because of the heat and by the time they are done both of their clothes are drenched in sweat.

"Is too hot today" Yoshika complains as she wipes a layer of sweat off her forehead. Yoshika normal doesn't complain about training but today she doesn't think anyone could train in this heat.

"I know but we can't do anything about the weather" Lynne replies as she pours them both a glass of cool refreshing water. "Here take this"

"Thanks" Yoshika says as she takes the cold glass in her hand and quickly downs the water. "Does Britannia normally have heat waves?"

"Um yeah but they never normally get this hot though" Lynne answers as the two of them leave the kitchen.

"Well to be honest I didn't think anywhere could be this hot" Yoshika says with a smile.

"Yeah me never" Lynne smiles back as they enter the dining hall to find Shirley, Lucchini, Erica and Eila sitting at the table laughing at something.

"Hey guys want to join us?" Shirley asks as she waves the two over.

"Don't we have training" Yoshika asks as she and Lynne walk over.

"Not anymore after seeing how hot it was Minna decided to call it off for today but Major Sakamoto, Perrine and Trude are still going to train" Erica says cheerfully. Yoshika and Lynne both look at each other and nod.

"Sure we'll join you what are we doing?" Lynne asks as she and Yoshika sit down.

"Truth or dare" Eila says with a grin on her face.

"Alright let's get started" Shirley says as she places a bottle on the table and spins it. The bottle spins and spins until it finally comes to a stop pointing at Lucchini who lets out a sigh as Shirley asks her. "Truth or dare Lucchini?"

"I choice dare" Lucchini nervously answers.

"Ok you have to go and grope Barkhorn over there" Shirley says as she points out the open window at Gertrud who is stretching her muscles. Lucchini nods with a look of dread on her face as she creeps up to the window, climbs through it and jumps onto Gertrud's back and gropes her breasts. Gertrud literally throws Lucchini off of her and begins to lecture her. Lucchini looking terrified points towards the group still at the table and Gertrud gives Shirley a disappointed stare. Shirley just makes her madder by blowing her a kiss making Gertrud storms off stomping her feet as Lucchini crawls back in through the window and re-joins the group. Shirley spins the bottle again only this time a lot faster and it comes to halt pointing this time at Lynne who like Lucchini lets out a sigh when Shirley asks. "So Lynne, do you pick truth or dare?"

"Um truth, I pick truth" Lynne answers as she fears what dare Shirley would make her do if she picked dare.

"Ok tell me, have you ever had a wet dream?" Shirley asks with a grin as Lynne turns bright red with embarrassment.

"What?" Lynne asks as her face continues to bright and she looks at the floor.

"Come on Lynne answer the question" Erica teases as she nudges Lynne's shoulder.

"Yes I have had on" Lynne answers after taking a deep breath.

"Ooh I guess we will find out who it was about if you dare pick truth again" Eila says while giggling as she spins the bottle much to Shirley's annoyance. The bottle spins round and keeps spinning till it stops pointing at Eila. "I pick dare"

"That was quick but ok for your dare you'll have to" Shirley says as she thinks for a moment. "You will have to go tell that mechanic that you love her"

"But she's an old lady" Eila says as she begins to panic as she looks at the grey haired lady fixing the light.

"Come on Sanya won't know about it" Shirley says as she pushes Eila towards the women. "A dares a dare"

"Fine, stop pushing me already" Eila says as she walks up to the women. As she reaches the women she takes a deep breath and says. "I love you"

"That's nice dear" The women replies without looking up or stopping her work. "Now go back to your friends and enjoy yourself"

"Ok bye" Eila says as she quickly makes her way back to the others as her face turns red.

"I take it your lovers now" Erica teases as Eila sits back down. "So when's the wedding?"

"There isn't going to be a wedding" Eila replies as she shakes her head.

"All well I guess you still have Sanya" Shirley says as she spins the bottle again. She spins it even faster and harder as if making up for the spin Eila stole from her.

"So when are you and Sanya getting married than?" Erica asks as she gets tired of watching the still fast moving bottle.

"Wait we aren't… we are not" Eila mutters as she stares at the floor turning even redder.

"Come on we all know you like her" Erica states as she nudges Eila. "Just tell us when the wedding"

"We are not getting married" Eila says as the bottle stops pointing at Erica. "Now it's your turn"

"Ok I pick truth" Erica calmly says with a grin on her face.

"That's the sprit" Shirley laughs. "Now tells us does Trude really want to fuck her little sis or is that just something you made up"

"Um yes I believe she really does" Erica says just before a pair of feet come stomping up behind her.

"Hartmann" Everyone turns to find Gertrud standing behind Erica with the look of hatred in her eyes. "Stop lying and making stuff up about me"

"But you do…" Erica started to say but Gertrud cuts her off by pressing her hand down hard into Erica's shoulder. Erica is forced down onto the table, her face clenched in pain.

"No I don't and why are you playing this childish game anyway?" Gertrud asks as she press's even hard onto Erica's shoulder.

"Because it's fun" Erica says through gritted teeth. "Please let go your hurting me"

"Ok but you're coming with me" Gertrud says as she grabs Erica's arm and pulls her out of the room. "Cleaning your room will be a fit punishment for lying"

"That's harsh and I wasn't…" Erica protests as she is dragged down the hall.

"Alright who's got a dare for me?" Shirley asks and everyone turns back to the game and finds the bottle is pointed at Shirley.

"Alright for your dare you have to grope the next person who goes through the door" Eila says hoping that it will be Gertrud since she's already pissed off.

"Ok I can hear someone heading this way" Shirley says as she and everyone else looks towards the door. Perrine walks into the room dripping with sweat and looking exhausted as she heads for the kitchen most likely to get a bottle of cold water from the fridge. Shirley quietly sneaks up behind her, wraps her arms around her and gropes her breasts.

"Hey what do you think you are doing?" Perrine asks as she tries to pull herself away from Shirley's grasps but fails as Shirley is too strong for her and easily holds Perrine in place as she begins to rub Perrine's Breasts. "Let me… gooooo!" Perrine calls out as Shirley continues to molest her.

"Why you seem to be enjoying it?" Shirley says with a grin as she presses Perrine's breast together.

"I'm not now let go!" Perrine shouts as she finally manages to free herself and storms into the kitchen.

"Let me know if you want to go again darling" Shirley says as Perrine walks back by her and leaves the dining hall carrying two bottles of water. Shirley returns to the group but instead of spinning the bottle she turns to Yoshika and says with a grin on her face. "I think it's only fair if you have a turn now Yoshika"

"Yeah it's your turn Yoshika" Eila says as she puts her arm around Yoshika. "Pick truth or dare"

"Um I pick dare" Yoshika answers nervously.

"Ok you have to kiss Lynne" Shirley says causing Yoshika and Lynne to turn bright red. The two turn to each other and hesitate.

"Go on kiss her" Lucchini says as she grows tired of watching them stare at each other. Yoshika leans in and kisses Lynne on the lips stealing her first kiss and losing her own. The whole time they kiss Yoshika can't believe how soft Lynne's lips are or how warm they are. The kiss only lasts a few moments but to Yoshika it seems like an eternity of bliss. As soon as the kiss is over Yoshika and Lynne both look down embarrassed but Yoshika secretly desires another kiss from Lynne.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

The paper work was starting to pile up in Minna's office. She has been filling it out relentlessly since she finished breakfast but she has hardly made a dent in the mounting of paper. She is normally a fast writer but with today's heat it's taking her twice as long as usual to complete. Her hands are covered in sweat that constantly drips down the pen she's writing with and onto the report she's writing. She's already had to scrap five reports and start again because her sweat saturated the paper she was writing on to the point where it disintegrated in her hands.

The whole time she is writing her report she wishes she didn't have to write one. Her thoughts keep drifting to Sakamoto, her smiling face, her long black hair and her naked body siting in the bath next to Minna. She is so caught up in her thoughts and paper work that she doesn't notice Sakamoto enter until she gently touches her on the shoulder. Sakamoto only gently touches her but it's still enough to make Minna jump out her skin.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" Sakamoto smiles at Minna.

"It wasn't your fault I was just caught up in work that I didn't even notice you enter" Minna says as she turns round and returns Sakamoto's smile.

"Here you look like you need it" Sakamoto says as she hands Minna a bottle of water.

"Thanks" Minna replies as she takes the water from Sakamoto.

"Why do you have more paper work to do now than when the Neuroi attack?" Sakamoto asks as she looks at the pile of papers on Minna's desk.

"Because Command doesn't like to give me a day off" Minna says as she stands and wraps her arms around Sakamoto's waist. Sakamoto immediately moves her arms around Minna's neck as she leans in and their two lips meet in a passionate kiss. Their tongues compete with each other as they seek dominance over the other.

"So how about I help you so we can carry this on" Sakamoto whispers into Minna's ear sending a shiver through her body.

"Sure" Minna whispers back and she quickly kiss Sakamoto on the neck before they break apart and begin to storm through the paper work on Minna's.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

Lynne was lying onto of her bed. After Yoshika kissed Lynne Gertrud returned and forcefully put an end to the game and Lynne went straight to her room to lie down. She's been lying down for the last hour thinking about the kiss she shared with Yoshika. That was Lynne's first kiss and she knew it was Yoshika's too. She never thought a kiss could make her feel so warm inside. She always believed that all you would feel was the lips of her kisser pressed against her own.

She keeps thinking about how warm and happy the kiss made her feel and she can't help but wonder if Yoshika had felt something too from kissing her. "She must have" Lynne tells herself. "Surely she felt something too" Whether what she felt was good or bad remains to be seen. "I hope she doesn't hate that kiss and that it will come between us"

"Lynne" Someone says through the door as they knock. It's strange because that sounds like Yoshika and this is her room is well so she shouldn't have to knock before she enters. "Um Lynne can I come in and speak with you?"

"Ur yes" Lynne replies as she sits up on her bed. Yoshika slowly enters the room and walk up to Lynne looking nevus.

"Um Lyne I… I" Yoshika struggles to get out and she has to take a deep before telling Lynne. "I'm sorry if what happened earlier please don't let it come between us Lynne"

"Yoshika of course i want let this come between us" Lynne says as she hugs Yoshika. "Nothing will ever come between us"

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila was still with Shirley and Lucchini as they walk through the base. It was not even noon yet and the days already boiling. The three witches are drenched in sweat and are getting tired of walking. Eila was used to the heat from the sauna but this heat is on a whole different level.

"Man and I thought saunas were hot" Eila says as the group decide to sit down in an upstairs hall looking over the court yard.

"Yeah I've been in the desert before and even there it was cooler" Shirley adds as she wipes a layer of sweat off of her forehead. "This heat is unbearable"

"Yeah it is" Lucchini agrees.

"How can it be this hot…? Oh shit!" Shirley says as she looks a large Neuroi burst out of the ground in the courtyard quickly followed by six smaller Neuroi. "Neuroi get to the hanger"

The alarm goes off seconds after the girls start running for the hanger. Neuroi beams begin to rain down on the base causing large explosions where ever they land and several fires begin to break out across the base. Falk and tracers from AA fire fills the sky but have little effect on the attacking Neuroi and now another larger Neuroi bursts out of the ground just outside the base followed by ten smaller Neuroi. They meet Yoshika, Lynne and Sanya at the door to the hanger and enter to find the rest of the witches preparing to take off.

"Hurry up ladies we got to get out there!" Sakamoto shouts as they enter the hanger. Everyone quickly gets into their Strikers and takes off. Within seconds of the last witch leaving the hanger another large Neuroi and six smaller Neuroi burst out of the hanger and opens fire on the witches causing them to break formation and take evasive actions. Two large Neuroi and about twenty smaller Neuroi are now approach the base as the fly low across the sea.

All of the large Neuroi are the same shape, a giant cone covered with red dots. The smaller Neuroi are all spear shaped with one red dot. Most of the base is now a burning ruin filling the sky with thick black smoke.

"Barkhorn Erica and I will attack the Neuroi approaching from the sea; Sakamoto and Yoshika attack the Large Neuroi on the left, Shirley and Lucchini take the centre, Perrine an Eila take the right" Minna orders. "Lynne and Sanya gain altitude and provide long distance support"

Yes ma'am" Everyone replies as they move in formation and begin to attack. Eila follows Perrine towards their target, eight Smaller Neuroi try to block their path but Perrine easily deals with them.

"I got them TONNERRE!" Perrine shouts sending a lightning bolt into all the spears destroying them all instantly. Perrine slows down as she attacks and Eila passes her and opens fire on the cone cutting it in half. The top break apart and the bottom have already started to regenerate.

"The cores in the bottom half" Eila yells to Perrine as she catches up with her.

"Right lets go get it" Perrine says as she and Eila both charge the Neuroi. "I attack from the right and you attack from the left"

"Got it" Eila replies as she cork screws and positions herself on the left. She charges the Neuroi dodging every shot it fires at her and she returns fire and deals the Neuroi some serious damage. Perrine attacks straight after giving the Neuroi no chance to recover putting a line of bullets into the Neuroi hitting the core triggering the Neuroi to shatter into tiny shinny pieces.

* * *

Francesca Lucchini

Lucchini and Shirley attacked together in a tight formation. Between them they shoot down all of the spears with accurate bursts of fire from their guns. Within seconds of beginning their attack they have a clear run at the con shape Neuroi. They open fire and split the Neuroi into three pieces. The middle section is the only part not to shatter into millions of shiny pieces.

"Target the middle" Shirley says as they both pull up and loop back around charging the Neuroi. They charge it again cutting it into even smaller pieces. They still don't relent as they circle back around and destroy the only small piece of Neuroi left.

"Yeah take that you stupid Neuroi" Lucchini cheers as she hugs Shirley in triumph.

"Calm down Lucchini the battle isn't over yet" Shirley tells her.

"We can still celebrate these Neuroi's are push overs" Lucchini continues to cheer.

"That may be so but we shouldn't let our guards down because of it" Shirley warns the young witch.

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

Sakamoto is flying above the above the cone shaped Neuroi using her magical eye to seek out its core. She's leaving the Spears to Yoshika and out of the corner of her eye she can see that Yoshika has shot down most of them and is chasing after the last two. She can't help but feel proud at the young witch who has shown so much potential and has improved so much since she arrived. Sakamoto is sure that one day Yoshika will lead the 501st Joint Fighter Wing to victory over the Neuroi.

She scans the cone shape Neuroi seeking its core. She finally locates it at the back of the Neuroi towards the top. She ready's her weapon and dives concentrating her fire on the core as she dives towards the Neuroi. After a few short bursts from her gun and the core is destroyed. She pulls out of her dive ad turns to see Yoshika destroying the last spear in the area.

"Good work Miyafuji" Sakamoto says as they regroup.

"Thank you ma'am" Yoshika replies.

"Alright everyone we are going to assist Minna's group" Sakamoto orders as she spots Minna, Gertrud and Erica still fighting. "Perrine, Eila, Lynne and Sanya stay here in reserve"

"Yes ma'am" everyone replies as Sakamoto leads the charge towards the Neuroi. As they arrive there is only two spears left which Gertrud and Shirley destroy.

As they head back to the base eight land type Neuroi walk out of the sea and onto the beach in front of the burning ruins of the base. All eight Neuroi has four long legs coming out of a cube body. The cubes have five red spots on each face and the legs have one red spot on each of them. As soon as the Neuroi surface from the water the immediately fill the sky with red beams cause all the witches but Eila to use their shields.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna is taking cover behind her shield in-between Sakamoto and Gertrud. As she looks to her side she can see Sakamoto's shield start to crack under the pressure of the Neuroi beams firing in all directions. Looking at Sakamoto herself you can tell she's not doing well. She's covered in sweat and breathing heavy. Every time she blocks with her shield she grunts from the effort.

"Mio get behind Yoshika now you won't last much longer if you carry on like that" Minna orders and is relieved that Sakamoto followed them without a complaint. Minna surveys the battle ground and comes up with a plan. "Trude, Erica, Shirley, Lucchini and Eila use the smoke for cover and attack from the North. Everyone else will stay here and prepare to attack on my order"

"Yes ma'am" Everyone says as they move out. Minna watches Gertrud lead the attack section into the fog and using her magic she tracks their movement. She watches Gertrud lead the section in a low level attack on the Neuroi.

"Ok everyone, attack" Minna orders as she leads the way down towards the Neuroi with Sakamoto right behind her. The attack is a massive success with Gertrud's team destroying three Neuroi and Minna's destroying another two. The remaining Neuroi open fire but they can't keep up with the witches as they twist and turn, climb and dive and duck and weave. Within minutes the remaining Neuroi are destroyed and the witches and finally afford to rest.

* * *

Sanya V. Litvyak

Sanya and the other witches are flying over the burning ruins of their base looking for survivors that need help. But so far all they have found are the burning corpses of the support staff at the base. It doesn't look like anyone else has survive the attack as every building is completely engulfed in flames and everybody they find outside is nothing more than a burning corpse.

"Sanya" Eila calmly says as she fly's up beside her friend. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine" Sanya replied in her sweet quiet voice. "It's so sad that no one else lived through the attack"

"Yeah I never thought this place would ever be destroyed" Eila confessed. "We lost everything from this attack. Our base, possessions and everyone who helped us is gone"

"Don't worry, we will…" Sanya begins to say but stops when she sees the old lady mechanic standing outside the burning hanger. "Eila look someone's alive down there" Sanya says as she points down to the old lady walking onto the runway.

"We found someone on the runway near the hanger" Eila says over the radio as she watches the women on the runway. As Eila watches the women she can't help stare in shock as the women skin turns black, her eyes red and she starts to slowly float up off of the ground and towards Eila and Sanya. "Neuroi, the women's turned into a fucking Neuroi!"

"Wait, repeat your last" Sakamoto replies over the radio. "Did you say she turned into a Neuroi?"

"Yes she just transformed right in front of me" Eila answers as the woman Neuroi charges right at her shooting a pair of beams from her eyes and for the first time ever Eila is forced to use her shield. "We need help its attacking!"

"Hold on we are on our way" Minna says over the radio as the Neuroi shoots in-between Eila and Sanya and heads out towards the sea.

"Where is it?" Gertrud asks as she and the others arrive.

"Over there it's hiding in the clouds just off shore" Sanya says as she uses her magic to detect the Neuroi.

"Right Erica, Gertrud, Sanya and Eila attack it head on, Yoshika, Lynne and Sakamoto attack from the left and Shirley, Lucchini come with me and attack from the right" Minna orders as she uses her magic to detect the Neuroi is well.

Sanya stays behind the other witches in her group and fires four rockets into the clouds where the Neuroi is hiding but the Neuroi shoots out two lines of beams destroying three of the rockets before they enter the clouds. The fourth rocket explodes in the clouds above the Neuroi casing it to fall down out of the clouds.

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika and Lynne follower Sakamoto towards the tracer fire coming from Gertrud's group as they engage the Neuroi. They can easily see the Neuroi as it is lit up by tracers and explosions. As they get nearer they can see the witches dogfight with the Neuroi which seems to be extremely nimble and fast.

"You two stay her and cover me well I search for the core Lynne engage the Neuroi from here" Sakamoto orders as she lifts up her eye patch and scans the Neuroi seeking out its core. "I see the core it's located in its head"

"Got it" Minna says over radio as she and her group descend guns blazing towards the Neuroi.

"Come on you two" Sakamoto says as she charges the Neuroi. Yoshika and Lynne don't hesitate to follow after her and tighter the three charges the Neuroi. That's when it happens. The Neuroi waits for all the witches to get close before opens its stomach exposing a multi coloured crystal before exploding.

Yoshika is engulfed by a blue light. She can't see anything but blue, she can't move or even make a sound. Suddenly she feels like the whole world is being spun round. At that point he blacks out and the blue light intensifies.

"Yoshika wake up! Yoshika please wake up!" Yoshika awakes to Lynne kneeling over her with tears forming in her eyes. As soon as Lynne notices Yoshika's awake she wraps her in a fierce hug which nearly squeezes the life out of her.

"Lynne its ok I'm awake now so can you please stop crushing me" Yoshika asks as Lynne continues to squash her.

"Oh I'm sorry" Lynne says as she lets go and wipes away the tears that are crawling down her check. "Are you sure you are ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine I just blacked out" Yoshika replies with a smile. It is only now that Yoshika realises that she is lying down on a concrete floor inside of a building with no roof. Judging by the sky it's drawn and the sun is only just rising in the blue cloudless sky. "Where are we? Where is everyone else?"

"We don' know where we are. We reckon this is some kind of factory but apart from that we don't know. Everyone else is looking around the factory to see where we are right now" Lynne calmly tells Yoshika as helps Yoshika up. "Commander Minna and Major Sakamoto are on the roof and want us to meet them up there when you wake up"

"Ok let's go" Yoshika says as she looks up at the blue sky. "Isn't the roof missing?"

"Only in this part of the building" Lynne informs her as they begin to walk towards the roof.


	2. The Factory

Chapter 2: The Factory

Unknown Factory

Mio Sakamoto

The area around the factory was grassy hills with a few small brick buildings falling apart scattered around the factory. There's not a soul in sight and the only wildlife Sakamoto and Minna has seen are a few birds flying over. The sun is only just rising up over a mountain to the east and there are only a few white fluffy clouds are visible in the sky.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Sakamoto asks as she scans the horizon.

"No I don't have a clue" Minna replies. "I don't recognise anything around here"

The two of them look around for any sign of civilisation but only see ruins and an endless sea of grassy hills with a frost in the distance to the west and a tall mounting to the east. There are no signs of any human being anywhere near here recently. There's the sound of glass being crushed gets the twos attention and they turn round to see Yoshika and Lynne walking towards them.

"Yoshika are you ok. You had us worried there for a seconded" Sakamoto says as they she and Minna walk over to meet Yoshika and Lynne.

"I'm fine you don't need to worry" Yoshika answers.

"Good, Yoshika I need you to cheek if you can still use your magic" Minna says.

"Ok I check right away" Yoshika replies as she summons her familiar and uses a healing spell on the air in front of her. "My magic still works fine"

"Great it only appears we lost our strength then" Minna replies as she turns back to Sakamoto. "Come to think of it we lost are weapons and Strikers is well"

"Ah I can't believe I missed something like that" Sakamoto replies as she smacks herself in the head. "I have no idea where they went"

"No me never I guess we have to hope the others find them during their search" Minna says as she shakes her head. "Now where were we? That's it Lynne, Yoshika Eila and Sanya found a medical room on the second floor near the front of the building. I want you both to go there and see if you can find anything useful"

"Yes ma'am" Lynne and Yoshika say both simultaneously.

Minna and Sakamoto watch the two walk off and go back to looking out and trying to come up with a plan. The wind is starting to pick up now as it blows over the grassy plains around the factory sending a shiver through Minna's body.

"Well at least its cooler here" Minna says trying to stay positive.

"Yeah maybe now I can complete my morning training" Sakamoto says back with a smile.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

"Oh my god this waters so fucking cold!" Erica loudly moans as she and Gertrud enter the flooded basement of the factory. In the dim light of the sun only two things that look like generators are viable and a large metal door at the other end of the room.

"Shut up Hartmann Minna ordered us to cheek the basement and that's exactly what we are going to do" Gertrud tells her as they walk towards the metal door.

"Can't you at least carry me this water is freezing" Erica continues to moan.

"No now suck it up and come on the quicker we search the basement the quicker you can get out of the water" Gertrud points out as she reaches the metal door and try's to open it. The door doesn't budge so Gertrud summons her familiar and punches the door repeatedly until it fools over. Inside the room are several rows of shelf's and a metal cylinder in the centre which is slowly opening. Inside the tube is a man shaped machine that faces Gertrud and points his arms at her. "What the fuck is that?"

"Intruder detected" The machine screeches at Gertrud. "Eliminate intruder"

"What is…?" Gertrud manages to say before the machine fires two lasers from its hands at her forcing her to use her shield. "Erica help there's a machine in there shooting"

"What are you on about?" Erica says as she skips over to her smiling. But as she starts to pay attention to what is happening and sees her friend's shield her smile is wiped from her face. "Oh shit what should I do?"

"We are going to burst into that room" Gertrud tells her. "I'll go left and you right, draw its fire and I'll smash it up"

"Ok let's do it" Erica says as she runs into the room and Gertrud followers' right behind her charging the machine. Getting past that thing was surprisingly easy. It is slow and not very accurate. Gertrud easily makes it to a concrete pillar and takes cover waiting for Erica to draw its fire. Erica starts to throw random objects at the machine but unfortunately the machine pays her no attention and continues to fire at Gertrud. "Um Trude it hates you too much to attack me"

"Shut Hartmann annoy it like you annoy me!" Gertrud shouts as the machine closes in on her.

"Sure I'm on it" Erica says with a giggles as she runs and jumps on the machines back wrapping her hands tightly around its body. "Gertrud I could use some help here"

"Oh my god you are too reckless" Gertrud says as she charges the machine and punches it with all her strength in its hard metal chest. Her fist disappears into its chest causing sparks and smoke to seep out of the hole she made. The machine falls onto the flooded floor turning the clear cool water oily black.

"What the fuck is that?" Erica asks as she stands over the machine and pokes it with her toe.

"No idea but Erica I want you to go get Minna and bring her here while I start to search through these boxes" Gertrud says as she looks at the machine.

"Why do I have to go?" Erica moans. "There are too many steps to climb"

"Would you rather stay here and search through boxes?" Gertrud replies as she looks through the nearest box.

"On second thought the roof seems nice" Erica says running out of the room.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

"Lucchini are you done searching those cupboards yet?" Shirley asks she finishes sorting through a dozen boxes of gone off food. Shirley and Lucchini have found what appears to be a kitchen and are currently searching through the cupboards for food and water. Unfortunately all they have been able to find so is six bottles of water and a knife. Everything else here seems to be rotting.

"Yes but I could only find a plastic back" Lucchini says as she shows off her find. "Everything else was rotten"

"Ok hold the bag open while I put the water inside" Shirley instructs as she picks up a bottle of water in each hand. She begins to drop the water bottles into the bag just as an alarm sounds and part of the wall slides open letting a metal walk through the gape.

"Intruders detected" The metal man screeches as it raises its hands towards the two witches.

"Um Shirley what is that?" Lucchini asks nervously as she grabs Shirley's arm.

"I don't know but, watch out!" Shirley yells as she raises her shield to block several laser shots from the metal man. "Lucchini take cover!"

Shirley keeps her shield raised as she watches the young witch take cover behind the counter. She quickly dives behind another counter as she lowers her shield, she manages to grab the knife she found earlier as she dives and now holds it ready for battle. Shirley can her the metal feet of the metal man clank on the floor as it slowly and steadily walks towards her keeping both her and Lucchini pinned down with laser fire.

"Honestly I can't leave you two alone for a second can I, TONNERRE!" Perrine cockily says as before she shoots a bolt of lightning into the machine destroying it. "Now please tell me why that thing is attacking you"

"We don't know the wall just opened and it walked out and started shooting at us" Lucchini tells her as she peeks round the corner at the smoking metal man on the floor with fear in her eyes.

"We should report this to the Commander and Major right away" Perrine says and the other two nod in agreement.

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila and Sanya are in the medical room helping Yoshika and Lynne search for supplies. Eila was the one that first found the room and was enjoying the fact that no one else has found anything as good as her yet. She was looking forward to bragging about it to Lucchini as they had bet earlier about who will find the most stuff. So far their search of this room has turned up two rolls of bandages, a full bottle of pain killers and three and a half boxes of plasters.

"All right I think that's everything lets head back up to the roof" Yoshika says as she crawls out of a cupboard she was searching holding a half filled plastic bag containing cotton balls in her hands.

"Well it isn't much but I guess it will do" Eila says as she looks over their collection of medicines. Just as they are about to leave a clanking sound comes from the hallway and is getting closer and closer to them.

"What is that sound?" Sanya says terrified as she hides behind Eila's back.

"I don't know but it's getting closer" Lyne says as she hugs Yoshika.

"Everyone, hide and keep quiet" Eila says as the clanks sound like they are coming from right outside the room. The girls just manage to hide themselves just in time before some kind of machine walks into the room while another two wait outside in the hallway watching both directions.

"Scanning room" The machine screeches out as a blue light admits from its glass head and rolls up and down the room covering every inch. "Life form detected checking personal records. No match found lethal force authorised"

As soon as the machine says that it opens fire with its laser and the other two spin round to join in the fight. But as soon as one of those machines open fire one of them suddenly explodes and falls to the ground in a smoky heap. Then out of nowhere Shirley charges the other machine in the hall and slams a fire axe into its glass head with all her might. The machine instantly falls to the ground with sparks flying out of its head. Shirley doesn't get a chance to pull the axe out because the machine in the room now turns and fires at her. The machine starts to walk out of the room to get a better firing position on Shirley when Eila sees an opportunity to take it out. She picks up a metal tray and umps over the table she was hiding behind striking the machine in the back of its glass head causing it to shatter but unfortunately the machine still stayed standing and turned round to face Eila.

"No, Eila!" Sanya screamed which shocked everyone in the room as she has never been so loud before. Sanya got up from behind the desk and charged the machine holding a wooden stool over her head. She managed to reach the machine before it could fire and hit it in the side of the head shattering the wooden stool on impacted. The machine falls to the ground dead, sparking and leaking black oil all over the floor.

"Thanks Sanya" Eila says as she tries to get over her shock of seeing Sanya act like that and scream so loud.

"Eila are you ok?" Sanya says as she turns to face Eila with tears in her eyes. "That thing didn't hurt you did it?"

"No I'm fine Sanya thanks to you" Eila says as she hugs Sanya. "So calm down ok"

"Ok I will" Sanya replied as she breaks away and wipes the tears from her eyes.

"Are you guys ok in there?" Shirley asks as she walks into the room carrying the fire axe.

"Yes we are all fine thank you for saving us" Yoshika says as she and Lynne gets up from their hiding space.

"You better be grateful I'm exhausted from that" Perrine says as she walks round the corner with Lucchini straighten her glasses. "That's the third time today I had to us that spell"

"We are thank you" Lynne says. "What are these things?"

"Don't know they just appeared and stared firing" Shirley says as she spots the pile of medical supplies lying on the able. "Here put these medical supplies in her with the water we found and come with us up to the roof and tell Minna about this"

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

"What is happening down there we though we head Neuroi beams firing and were just about to head down there?" Sakamoto asks as everyone but Gertrud appears on the roof. "Where's Barkhorn by the way?"

"She's still in the basement and says there is something you need to see" Erica replies as she catches her breath after running all the way to the roof.

"Ok but first tell us what's happening" Minna says as everyone gathers round her.

"These metal men came out of nowhere saying "Intruder alert" and started shooting at us" Lucchini tells Minna.

"What do you mean by metal men?" Sakamoto asks as he thinks about all the armour she knows about.

"They were some kind of machine" Shirley says.

"They shoot lasers from their hands and can detect people with a blue light from their glass heads is well" Eila adds.

"Ok we are all going to the basement together, find Trude and then we are getting out of here" Minna says before she walks through the group towards the stairs.

"I still don't understand what you mean by metal men" Sakamoto says as she rubs her chin and catches up to Minna.

"Don't worry there is one down there me and Trude smashed up earlier you can see" Erica says with pride as she sticks out her chest and smiles.

Brotherhood of Steel Headquarters

* * *

Dean Carmon

Dean was walking along the outer wall of Fort Excel enjoying the cool breeze on this clear blue day. Dean would normally walk the outer perimeter every day if the weather was nice. There is normally no one around to disturb him just an encircling reinforced concrete wall topped with barbed wire and sentry guns positioned on evenly around the perimeter wall. Only his footsteps on the pavement and the singing of the birds can be heard here if you ignore the swivelling sound the sentry guns make when turning. But peaceful times like these can't last for ever and Dean's time is ended by a call over his radio.

"This is Paladin Dean Carmon here" Dean says into his radio. The radio is built into his power armour that every Brotherhood knight and paladin wears. The power armour suits provide excellent protection from small arms fire as well as increase the wears strength, stamina and speed. The helmet has a built in radio and gasmask to help the wearer. On his left wrist the scribes has built in a Geiger counter and on the right they have added a map of the area.

"Paladin you have been ordered to head to the briefing room and wait for Knight Captain Franco" The voice on the other end of the line tells him. "You have been transferred to his squad and will be their squad's medic from now on"

"Ok I'm on my way" Dean replies as he begins to walk back towards the old fort built years ago to defend the coast from attack.

The two large guns of the fort lay dead but soon the Knights and Scribes say they could be working. The fort is buried under a grassy hill under the two great guns with only five small metal doors and two hatches to leave and enter by. As Dean walks her passes by twelve Initiate doing there morning training of push ups and hand to hand training, another six are at the firing range and two more are retrieving medical attention, probably from the hand to hand training. The inside of the old fort is tight and cramped until you take the lift down to the bunker that was built before the Great War that destroyed the planet and turned the world into a radioactive waste land. The bunker is wide and open with wide well light corridors, several rooms and its own underground from which the Brotherhood along with the outer wall when they first arrived at the fort six years ago. The briefing room isn't hard to find as it is the first door on the left when you exit the lift.

Dean enters the room to find two fellow Paladins and a Knight Sargent already there. They are all sitting down quietly and only give Dean a quick glance as he enters. They probably think he's a liability out there in the field as he only just got promoted to Paladin three weeks ago and has only been involved in combat four times before. Compared to these guys who go out and fight on a daily bases he is still a baby in the world of warfare. He only just manages to seat down before Knight Captain Franco walks into the room with an eye bot follower in him around floating just above his head.

"Alright brothers I'll get straight down to business" The Knight Captain says as he dims the light and uses a remote control to start a projector. An aerial image of a raider camp lights up the wall behind the Knight Captain. "These raiders have been digging around their camp defences recently and have just unearthed an old-world drone. The Elders believe this drone to contain important technological secretes that can help us rebuild the world to its former self. Our mission is to move in, eliminate the raider camp and recover the drone's head as that is believed to contain the brain of the machine. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Yes what kind of weaponry do the raiders possess and what are their numbers?" The Knight Sargent asks and only now Dean could tell she's a woman. It is nearly impossible to tell with all the power armour she wears but that voce is too feminine to belong to a man.

"Our scouts say they are only equipped with rifles, submachine guns and shotguns" The Knight Captain tells her. "Satellite and Scout reports show there are only twelve raiders at the camp and two dogs"

"What's the attack plan?" The Paladin to Deans left asks. "Is it going to be a fire fight or sneaking type attack?"

"The plan is to move to this ridge here and recon the camp" The Knight Captain says as her uses the remote to change the pitcher to a close up of a ridge that overlooks the camp. "We'll make our attack plan from there and I'll provide sniper fire from this position"

"Is that eye bot coming with us?" The same Paladin from before asks.

"Yes it is a prototype eye bot with advanced amour and weaponry. Are there any other questions?" He answers and waits a few minutes for someone to ask him a question. "Grab your gear we move out in thirty minutes. Oh Jayson, look after the rookie today"

"Don't worry sir I'll take good care of him" Paladin Jayson answers and he turns out to be the Paladin that never spoke during the briefing. "Come on rook lets go gear up"

We walk into the armoury across the hall and line up behind the rest of the squad to get our weapons and ammo from behind the glass wall at the other side of the room. There's a young teenage boy behind the glass collecting a Gauss rifle and pistol for the Knight Captain. The Knight Sargent is next the boy hands her a laser rifle and pistol. The Paladin that I don't know steps forward and receives a Gatling laser and pistol before turning back with a smile on his face.

"Oh by the way George over there loves big guns and fire power" Jayson tells me as he steps up to the counter. He receives a laser rifle, pistol and a missile launcher from the boy. "It will be a big mistake to get on his bad side"

"Good to know" Dean replies as he takes his laser rifle and pistol from the boy.

"Alright everyone I just realized we never introduced ourselves to the rook" The Knight Captain says as he comes over to Dean. "I'm Knight Captain Alex Franco, Knight Sargent Samantha Gold but everyone calls her Sam over there is my seconded in command, I believe you already know Paladin Jayson Rights here and finally that guy with the big gun is Paladin Nathan Hiller"

"Nice to meet you Paladin Dean" Knight Sargent Gold says as she reaches out her hand.

"You too ma'am" Dean replies as he shakes her hand.

"Oh we don't care about rank in our squad so call me Sam" She says with a slight laugh. "Just obey orders in the field ok"

"Well now the introductions are done les head up to the surface and get some fresh air" Alex says as he touches both Dean and Sam on the shoulder.

"Sounds great I hate being underground" Jayson answers and the group start to walk towards the elevator.

"Yeah we even have some time to sunbath before the mission" Sam happily says as she presses the button to send the elevator up to the old fort.

"Calm down you won't get tanned with the time we have to wait" Nathan says as the elevator door closes and it starts to rise.

* * *

Unknown Factory

Erica Hartmann

Erica was leading everyone down to the basement where Gertrud was waiting for them and searching through the flooded storage room. They manage to reach the flooded room without running into any more of those metal men but from the clanking sounds echoing through the building it is obvious there are still more of them out there hunter the witches down. The water is still freezing cold and like Gertrud the others have refused to give Erica a piggy back ride over the water.

"Hey Trude I'm back and I brought everyone else" Erica calls out as she walks into the storage room.

"Erica be quiet those things are looking for us remember" Minna tells Erica as she spots what everyone else has been on about, a metal man lying dead on the floor spilling oil into the clear water. "Is this one of those metal men you lot told me about?"

"Yes it is" Shirley says as she taps it with her toe to make sure it's dead.

"It doesn't look deadly" Sakamoto says as she bends over to examine the machine. "Where did the lasers shoot from because I can't see any weapons on it?"

"I shot them out of its hands" Lucchini quickly adds.

"Hey guys" Gertrud says as she walks up to the group who now has the machine surrounded. "We have a big problem"

"What is it now we have enough problems as it is?" Shirley says as she turns round to face Gertrud.

"Well we are not in our time anymore" Gertrud quietly says but no one hears her so she takes a deep breath and says it again louder so everyone can hear. "We aren't in our time anymore. We are in 2279"

"What are you on about Trude" Erica says as she walks up to her friend. "Don't joke around like that even though it's good that you found you sense of humour"

"I'm not joking I accidently switched on a box thing back there and it had the date and time in the bottom right corner of the screen" Gertrud replies as she avoids the hug Erica tries to give her. "That explains these laser firing machines is well"

"Show me this box" Minna orders and Gertrud leads her to the white box and points to the date and time. "I can't believe this is happening"

"Minna its ok it's probably wrong" Gertrud says trying to comfort Minna.

"I don't think so this technology is far more advanced than anything I have ever seen before and I don't think any country is close to reaching this level ever" Minna says. "We most likely are in the future"

"Uh Minna we need to get out of here those machines will find us down here eventually and even if they don't will get sick standing in this water for too long" Sakamoto says as she comes up behind the two.

"Yeah your right" Minna says as she gets up. "We are going to head for that forest we saw in the distance and try to think of something"

* * *

Brotherhood of Steel Headquarters

Dean Camron

Dean and the rest of his squad have gathered in front of the outer wall gates and are in the process of completing their final perpetrations before leaving. In will take them about twelve hours of walking to reach the cliff face. Everyone is in high spirits as they wait for the Knight Captain to join them and order the big metal gats open. Apart from Dean and his squad there is only two other Brotherhood members here, both are Paladins guarding the gate with their laser rifles.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Alex says as he walks up to the group.

"Yes sir" Everyone replies eager to get going.

"Good answer, open the gates" Alex says as he takes up position in front of the gate. One of the paladin palls a lever causing the gate to slowly creeks open. "Let's get moving I want to be in position by nightfall"

On the other side of the gate is a small bridge joining the fort with the mainland. The bridge has seen better days as several holes in the floor are spanned by ever metal or wooden plates and most of the brick railing has disappeared. At the end of the bridge are another two Paladin are standing behind a sandbag wall. Two eye bots fly over the squad as they cross the bridge patrolling the forts perimeter. Outside the fort there are several ruined and burned buildings lining the shore. A small fishing boat lays stranded on top of a ruined house with a large hall in its hull and the mask snapped into several pieces.

"Man our ancestors sure knew how to make a mess of the world" Jayson says aloud as they walk through the ruins and step over burnt skeletons. "It's a shame they didn't get a chance to put the dead to rest the dead"

"Yeah I would hate to think of our brothers and sisters lying out their dead and not being able to find peace" Knight Sargent Sam says.

"Well there is nothing we can do about it know so let's keep on moving" Nathan says as he steps over a skeleton of a child lying curled up on the curve.

"He's right people; we need to keep moving if we want to make it to the cliff on time" Alex says as he walks around the same skeleton.

**Information**

**The Fallout world where my story is set and some of the characters in will be made up at first but I will be moving into the Capital Wasteland and a characters from Fallout 3 will be present in later Chapters.**


	3. On the Move

Grassy Plain

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

The witches have been walking across the sea of grass for two hours now and are still some distance away from the forest. They managed to sneak past those metal men in the factory and escape into the fields and are now heading west. It's easy enough to keep on track as all you need to do is keep the mounting at your back and the forest is clearly visible. It looms in front of them stretching out in every direction as far as you can see and climbing on a small hill further back.

Lynne has been walking at the rear of the group holding Yoshika's hand as they go. Everyone is quiet and depressed as the shock of finding out they were hundreds of years into the future and wondering what has happened. How could the world fall apart like this? Are we the only people on earth? Are the Neuroi now ruling the world? These questions filled the girl's minds as they walk through the fields. The grass is waist high on Lynne and smells like summer. The smell of flowers and planets fills the air around Lynne and the cold breeze cools her from the warmth of the sun.

"Um Lynne, do you think that we will find anyone else?" Yoshika asks as they walk across a small stream in the middle of the field.

"I don't know every building we have seen so far seems to be destroyed and we've seen no sign of anybody else yet" Lynne replies.

"I hope so then we can find out what happened and where we are" Yoshika says as her smile returns to her face for the first time since they arrived in this world. The sight of that smile warms Lynne's heart and she can't help but smile back.

"Yeah me… Ah!" Lynne scrams as the ground beneath her feet gives way to a large dark hole. Yoshika is the only thing stopping her from falling in. she desperately strains her muscles trying to stop Lynne from falling in.

"Help me Lynne's in trouble" Yoshika yells to the others as she struggles to hold Lynne and stop her from falling into darkness below. Within seconds Gertrud and Shirley arrive and grab hold of Lynne's arms and together all three of them pull Lynne up out of the hole.

"Lynne, are you ok?" Minna asks her as she knees down beside her clearly worried about the witches wellbeing.

"Yeah I'm I just scraped my shins" Lynne says as she sees the grazes on her shins.

"Oh let me get that for you" Yoshika says as she starts to us her healing magic. The slight sting Lynne was feeling started to fade as her shins healed. "There, all better"

"Thanks Yoshika" Lynne replies as she stands up and stretches her leg.

"Ok everyone from now on stay together and watch where you step" Minna orders as she gets. She looks over the hole and into the darkness below before adding. "Be careful and lookout for each other as we cross the field"

"Yes ma'am" Everyone responds as the start to move towards the woods once more. This though they are walking closer together and watch the ground for any sign of it collapsing on them again. After about another five minutes of walking they reach a dirt road cutting through the long grass of the fields.

"Shirley, Lucchini walk down the road to the left, Erica and Trude go right and see if any direction turns towards the forest" Minna orders as she looks down the road in both directions. "Don't go too far only walk for ten minutes before turning back"

"We're on it ma'am" Gertrud responds as she drags Erica away with her.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud pulls Erica scouting down the road like Minna ordered not letting her slow from the fast pace Gertrud was walking at. Erica seems to have given up trying to free herself from Gertrud after a few failed attempts and just lets herself be dragged away. Gertrud just wants to get the job done and scout as much territory as possible in the time limit Minna set them so she's determined to find a safe passage through the forest so no one will end up dead like Lynne nearly did. There's just one problem, Erica she's lazy and slow so Gertrud will not let her go until they make it back to the others.

"Can you let me go Trude this is starting to hurt?" Erica asks as she try's once again to free her arm from her friends grip.

"No you will only slow us both down and we have a time sensitive mission on our hands that we must complete" Gertrud replies as Erica gives up in her attempt to free herself.

"I promise I won't so let me go already my arm feels like it's going to fall of" Erica pleads as she continues to march on in Gertrud's tight grasp.

"Yes you will you are too lazy and will want to take a break as soon as I let go" Gertrud counters without even stopping or looking back.

"Fine then I'll prove to you that I won't so let's get going" Erica yells as she grabs hold of Gertrud and runs past her. Now it's Gertrud's turn to be dragged, her turn to be lead and her turn to feel her arm about to pop out of its socket. "See I won't slow you down"

"Ok I'll let you go now stop dragging me" Gertrud says letting Erica go. Erica spins round laughing. "See your slowing us down now not me"

"Shut up Hartmann and lets just get on with our mission" Gertrud replies as she walks past the still laughing Erica.

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila and Sanya were sitting against a stone wall a little bit away from the other witches as they wait for the scouting teams to return. Sanya has fallen asleep and is resting her head on Eila's lap. Her night patrol, the battle over the burning base and in the factory has taken its toll on her. Eila loves it when Sanya rests like this. She sits still feeling Sanya's warmth on her legs and combing her hand through Sanya's soft hair. Sanya looks so beautiful when she sleeps and Eila can barely keep her eyes of off her.

She keeps watching her as white dots appear and cut across her vision. Eila just shrugs it off think it's nothing more than flower petals drifting on the wind but as the white dots continue to fly across getting bigger and bigger she knows something's wrong. She tries to wake Sanya up for help but she can't move a muscle. She tries to call for help but she can't force any sound out of her mouth. The white lights soon engulf her and all she can see is white for the next few seconds. As soon as the white light fades and she can see the road and field again she find that she can move again and every one of the witches has disappeared from the road and Sanya is no longer sleeping on her lap.

"Hello is any one there?" Eila calls out as she looks all around her for any sign of her fellow witches but finds none and she only gets an eerie silence in response to her question. "Come on guys this isn't funny where did you go?"

Eila looks around but there isn't a soul in sight and the sky from a blue cloudless sky to a blood red one with a black sun. Suddenly the dirt road turns into a tarred road with a pavement and street lights on ever side. None of the street lights are working and a few have been knocked over. The road is covered in cracks and potholes. Tall buildings shoot out of the ground lining the road. The buildings are in just as bad shape as the road, huge chunks of the buildings are missing, burn damage and cracks can be clearly seen all over the building. Smashed and burned cars start to drop out of the sky to litter the road but when they land they don't make a single sound. The cars are like nothing Eila has seen before and the only reason how she knows they are cars is because she can see the engine in one of the cars and the wheels of other cars.

"What the fuck is going on?" Eila says out load as she spins around taking in the newly grown ruined city.

Five men wearing strange suits of grey armour suddenly appears out of thin air walking towards Eila. The armour they wear covers their bodies entirely leaving no trace of their skin and makes a slight mechanical sound when the wearer walks. The helmets have two black eyes and a built in gas mask by the looks of it that make all the wearers sound like they are breathing heavily. All of the men are carrying strange weapons that Eila hasn't seen before but she still recognises that one of them is carrying some kind of rocket launcher on his back. They walk right by her like they didn't even notice her. There's a small floating sphere following right behind them.

"Hello, can you help me?" Eila calls out after them but they pay her no attention. "Please I need help I don't know where I am and where my friend have gone"

"They can't see or hear you Eila" A quiet voice whispers behind Eila. She turns around a see's a floating white orb. "Don't be afraid I'm here to help you"

"Who are you?" Eila asks as she takes a step back and hides her shaking hands behind her back. She struggles to contain her fear and to remain calm but the shaking in her arms won't stop and sweat start to appear on her forehead and on the back of her neck.

"I'm a sprite that has seen what is to come" The orb tells her and as it speaks the light flickers each time the sprite speaks. "You, your squad mates and those people that you just seen are the only way to stop the coming death and destruction"

"Who are those people?" Eila asks as she looks back and sees the men disappear into thin air right in front of her.

"There with the Brotherhood of Steel" The sprite says as it starts to fade away. "I have to go now Eila. You must find them"

"Wait how will I find them?" Eila asks but too late as the sprite disappears before it can answer. The white dots return flying across Eila's vision getting bigger and bigger just like before until all she can see is why. When the whiteness fades she's back on the road leaning against the stone wall with Sanya sound asleep resting her had on her lap. She can hear the other witches talking amongst themselves. She can't believe what just happened to her. Nothing like that has ever happened to her before. "Sanya wake up I need to talk with you" Eila says as she gently shakes Sanya's shoulder. Sanya starts to stir but doesn't wake. "Sanya wake up"

"Eila what's wrong?" Sanya asks sleepily as she wakes up rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sorry to wake you but I need to talk to you" Eila answers feeling sorry for waking her friend who so desperately needed to sleep. "Something weird just happened to me"

"Ok what happened?" Sanya replies as she sits up and stretches her arms out.

"Well I saw white dotes floating around me and then I was in a city speaking to a sprite" Eila begins to tell her friend. She tells her everything that happened to her in the city and how she got there. She tells her about the spirit, the men in weird armour and about the warning the spirit gave her about the upcoming devastation.

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?" Sanya asks trying to come up with an explanation for her friend.

"No it didn't seem like a dream. It felt to real and I never seen some of the things I did there before" Eila answered shaking her head. "Do you think I should tell Minna about this?"

"No I think you should wait until we find a safe spot inside the forest before you tell her she already has too much on her mind right now"

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

Sakamoto was sat next to Minna helping her come up with a plan. Finding a safe place to hide in the forest is fine for tonight but they still need to find food and water as six bottles won't last long. They are fine for now on medical supplies but she hopes they never have to use those supplies and will make it home safe and in one piece. Hopefully they will be able to find some edible plants or be able to hunt for food in the forest when they get there. That will take care of their food problem and maybe they will stumble onto a spring to solve their water problem is well.

"We need to find someone soon" Minna says staring at the dirt. "I don't know how much longer we will last out here without help"

"Don't give up yet Minna" Sakamoto quietly says so Lynne, Yoshika and Perrine won't hear there Commander like this. "You'll our Commanding Officer if you give up then everyone will get depressed and give up too"

"I'm not giving up" Minna replies as she looks up and into Sakamoto's eyes. "I just don't know what to do"

"Yes you do you just need to stop and think about it" Sakamoto tells her. "Eila can hunt to get us some food, Yoshika can heal our wounds, Lucchini can climb trees to get us fruit high in the trees and Barkhorn, Hartmann, Shirley and myself can protect everyone from harm. We just need you to lead us"

"Yeah your right thanks Mio this helped me a lot" Minna says as she give Sakamoto a quick smile. "As long as we work together we can get back home"

"Don't mention it I'm sure you would have done the same for me if the situation was reversed" Sakamoto says returning Minna's smile.

"Maybe to one of the other girls but I don't think you will ever give up even if you was dying" Minna tells her. "Well it look like the scouting teams are getting back"

Gertrude and Erica can be seen down the road walking back towards the group and Shirley and Lucchini walking towards them from other direction. As they get closer Sakamoto spots Shirley holding something in her hands. As the join the group it's clear that Shirley is holding some kind of animal. It's covered in fur, has along pink tail and a pointy nose.

"Hey guys we're back and we brought dinner" Lucchini announces as she jumps with joy over hers and Shirley's catch.

"What is that I've never seen one before?" Yoshika asks as she walks up and examines the creature.

"I don't know but it attacked us on our way back" Shirley says.

"Are you or Lucchini hurt?" Yoshika asks as she looks over the two witches for any sign of injury.

"No Shirley killed it with her axe before it got close to us" Lucchini cheerfully says.

"Well did the road led to the forest?" Minna asks them.

"No it leads back towards the factory" Shirley tells her.

"How about you two, did find anything?" Minna asks Gertrud and Erica as she spins round to face them.

"Yeah our road leads towards the forest but we don't know if it will go all the way to it though" Erica says with a smile on her face clearly proud to have found a path through the fields that could collapse on them at any time like it did with Lynne.

"Ok everyone we will rest here for ten more minutes and then start moving towards the forest again" Minna says sounding more like her old self.

* * *

Ruined City Outskirts

Dean Camron

Dean and his squad are about halfway through the outskirts of the ruined city. They are all on high alert and are on the lookout for Super mutants and feral ghouls that roam the city. The ruined city is scared by the Great War that destroyed the world. Every building is burnt, missing pieces and looking like they could collapse with the slightest breeze. Destroyed cars line the street and the road and pavements they are walking on is cracked and dotted with potholes. Skeletons piles created by the Super mutants to mark their territory appear on every street and every corner.

"We really should have cleared this city by now of the Super mutants" Jayson says aloud to anyone who's listening. "They've been nothing nut a dangerous threat ever since the first one was born"

"Yeah I hear you" Nathan replies giving his Gatling laser a quick spin. "I could just tear them apart myself"

"That's a good attitude but you two need to shut up before they hear us" Sam tells them as they pass another pile of skeletons.

"Everyone into that shop on the left now I hear movement ahead heading this way" Alex orders as he points his gun down the street. He watches the street as everyone moves into the shop before joining them. The shop they are hiding in is an old china shop. Most of its goods have been smashed and litter the floor.

"What is it I can't hear anything?" Dean asks as he tries to hear what Alex can hear.

"A large group of Super mutants are heading this way and should pass right by us in a minute or two" Alex informs him.

"The Captains got a good pair of ears so if he says he hears something he hears something and you will learn that he's always right about what he hears" Jayson tells him.

"Everyone be quiet hey are approaching" Alex orders and for the first time Dean can hear footsteps in the distance.

Within seconds a Super mutant walks past the shop carrying a Chinese assault rifle followed close behind by two of the Super mutants carrying Assault rifles and another one carrying a Minigun. Walking a few steps behind them are another two Super mutants carrying Hunting rifles with a Centaur in-between them.

The Super mutants have green skin and wear shorts, boots, and some kind of metal plates over their chest and back with half a tire over each shoulder. They hold their weapons out in front of them as they walk pass unaware of the Brotherhoods position. They walk slowly so the Centaur can keep up with them. Dean used to have nightmares about the Centaurs when he was a child. Their slug like pink bodies with three pairs of hands and an armless torso always freaked him out and those three tentacles coming out of their chest always terrified him. But the thing that scared him the most was the dirty sticky radioactive goo blobs they spit out at their prey.

The group slowly pass by the shop with Dean and his squad mates holding their breaths the whole time. After a few minutes which felt like an eternity for Dean the Super mutants finally pass by the shop without spotting anyone and continue up the street taking their pet Centaur with them. Alex gets up and moves towards the window where he can watch them leave.

"Alright they are gone everyone move out quietly" Alex quietly whispers as he takes aim in the direction where the Super mutants where heading. "Nathan, move across the street and cover our rear" Everyone nods and moves back out onto the street; Alex waits for Nathan to get into position before he moves to the front of the group and starts leading the squad through the ruined city once again.

The wind is starting to pick up making a loud wailing noise as it blows through the city. The city may be filled with dangerous mutants but being in the silence hearing only the wind and his breathing Dean can't help but feel like there's no one else in the city other than his squad and those Super mutants and Centaur. The sun is nearly high in the sky and white fluffy clouds start to fill the sky. It's meant to be a sunny day but weather predictions usually are never accurate so Dean keeps his eyes peeled for any sign of grey clouds on the horizon.

"Hey Jayson I thought that Mutants were meant to be stupid beasts but that group back there seems to be pretty organized to me" Dean asks Jayson as they cover the rest of the squad crossing the street from behind a burnt car.

"Yeah they are a lot smarter than they say they are kid and that's way you need to not believe everything you hear" Jayson replies as they move across the street well everyone else cover them. "After this mission you'll find that most of the creatures of the Wasteland are completely different from what you thought they were"

"I hope not ever wise we will never reclaim the Wasteland from them" Dean says shaking his head.

"You know you worry too much kid" Jayson says with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah as long as we can kill them we can beat them" Nathan adds as he also starts to laugh.

"I guess you two are right about that" Dean replies as he also lets out a slight giggle.

"Come on we have a schedule to keep people" Alex calls back. "Also stop laughing before they hear us"

"Yes sir" The three Paladins reply as they pick up the pace and re-join Alex and Sam.

They carry on walking for nearly half an hour and nearly make it out of the city when they come across a newly constructed super mutant camp. It is a circle of cars next to the only way out of the city. Inside the circle are two small shacks made of metal sheets over a wooden frame with a pile of dead Brahmin in-between. There are only three Super mutants inside the camp. Two of them are armed with hunting rifles and the other with a Combat shotgun.

"We have to take them out there is no way to sneak by them" Alex says as everyone gathers around him. "Here's the plan, Nathan and I will move to an upper floor of the build across the street. Sam will lead Dean and Jayson in a frontal assault on the camp and you will clear out the two shacks everyone got it?"

"Yes" Everyone says with a nod.

"Alright Nathan follow me and everyone else stay here tile I give the order to attack" Alex says before he and Nathan move and disappear in the building across the street. Dean stays stacked up against the building in-between Sam and Jayson. He readies his laser rifle and pistol as he waits. A minute later Alex is back on the radio. "Move up towards the camp but don't fire unless they see you until I fire"

Dean, Sam and Jayson crawl towards the camp keeping as low as possible to avoid detection from the mutants. They make it all the way to the camp entrance without being seen. Sam uses hand sign's to order Dean and Jayson to stop them; they then wait for Alex's first shot to begin their assault.

* * *

Alex Franco

Alex looks through the scoop of his Gauss rifle taking aim at the Super mutant with the shotgun. He places the crosshairs on the mutants head before pulling the trigger. His shot rings out signalling the assault to begin and turning his target into a pile of ash. As Alex quickly reloads his rifle he sees Nathan open fire with his Gatling laser cutting down both the other mutants and turning them into a bloody mess scattered all over the dead Brahmin. Sam and her team quickly rush into the camp with Jayson shooting a mutant exiting one of the shacks in the head covering the door with blood and brain. Sam's team immediately start to clear the camp with Jayson searching one shack and Dean the other while Sam walks around outside checking for any hidden mutant when Sam's team regroup at the camps entrance Alex assumes the job is done.

"Good work we'll regroup at the camp entrance" Alex says over the radio and was just about to leave when Nathan shouts and opens fire.

"Alex, we got more coming from the road!" Nathan shouts as her turns a mutant into ash. Alex looks out to see three other mutants attacking the camp. They are all armed with hunting rifles.

"Super mutants are attacking from the road take them out!" Alex orders over the radio as he puts a laser into a mutants head tearing it clean off its body. The rest of the fire fight is short lived as Nathan takes down one of the two remaining mutants with a hail of bullets while Sam's team turns the other one into ash before Alex has a chance to reload. "Alright now the area is clear Sam's team take cover me and Nathan are on are way"

"Nice shooting you two" Sam says as they regroup.

"Yeah nice shooting but you could have saved some fore us" Jayson adds.

"We will next time now let's get moving before more show up" Alex says as he turns towards the road. "Good job everyone that went very smoothly"

* * *

The Forest

Erica Hartmann

After walking all morning the witches and only now have just reached the outskirts of the forest. The trees were gigantic oak trees and their trucks were thicker than anything Erica has ever seen before. The tops of the trees are covered in thick green foliage and as they walk by one of the fallen leafs to the ground it is bigger than Erica. The grass in the woods still comes up to the girl's waist but at least it isn't as thick as the grass in the field and is only getting less and less thicker and taller as they proceed into the forest.

"Finally I thought we would never make it" Erica says as they enter the forest. "I never looked this far away from the factory roof"

"We still need to find a safe place to camp for the night so we can't rest yet" Minna tells them looking over her shoulder.

"Why can't we just camp here?" Erica moans.

"Because we are on a slope and exposed here" Gertrud tells her. "Those machines can easily spot us here"

"Then we will just smash them up again" Erica replies.

"No because they will use their lasers to pick us off from a distance if we set up camp here because the field is completely open" Gertrud counters.

"Fine let's get going" Erica says with a sigh as she stares at the ground.

The witches move deeper into the forest until the grassy ground turns into dirt covered ground covered with large roots. The roots are a nightmare as they block the gaps between the trees and the deeper in they go the more the forest turns into a maze. The forest is darker than Erica thought it would be as the thick foliage blocks out the sun. Pretty soon it becomes impossible to walk any further into the forest. The trees and roots block the way forward and with the light that manages to get through to the ground it is impossible to see where you are going.

"Great now what are we going to do?" Erica says as she slumps against a nearby tree trunk.

"We are going to move north until we find a way through or a place to camp" Minna says as she looks south and north along the wall of trees and roots.

"Can we have a quick break my feet are killing me?" as she sits down against another tree and starts rubbing her feet.

"Yeah mine too" Eila says as she sits down next to Shirley. "We really need to find some shoes if we are going to be traveling long distances like this"

"Ok but we need to get moving soon before we loss the sun" Minna agrees as she also sits down. "We'll keep an eye out for any footwear"

Erica sits against the tree using her hand to brush of the layer of dirt that has built up on her feet. Everyone is exhausted from hiking all morning and now the forest they thought would shelter them has turned into a dark maze stopping their forward progress. Their journey is only getting harder and harder with no end in sight.

What's up with this forest anyway? Erica can't help but think. She's seen forests before and none of them looked like this, had trees as tall and thick as the ones here or as dark as the forest she's wandering through now. How old is this forest? Erica wonders. She knows this forest must be old to have trees like these growing here. Also the leaves on the trees were bigger than Erica. Never before had she seen any petal or leaf bigger than her before. These trees must be really old Erica thinks.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

The witches were back on the move and wall alongside the wall of trees with Minna and Sakamoto leading the way. The tree wall was still impenetrable for the witches. They have been climbing up a gentle hill for the last few minutes and have only now reaching the top of it. On the other side of the hill is a green valley with a waterfall feeding into a river, the forest gives away to another grass field but on the top of the other hill is a line of dead trees that look like they were burnt.

Along the river is an old two floor wooden building that is missing its roof, a waterwheel is still attached to the side slowly turning in the river. All of the windows and doors of the building are missing and only the stakes of the wooden fence still remain. The building also looks like it was on fire at one point as the side face that Minna is facing is all scorched.

"Alright everyone we are going to spend the night in that house over there" Minna says as she points out the wooden building to the others. "Gertrude, Shirley you two go and make sure it's safe and we'll stay here and watch your back"

"We get right on it" Gertrud replies as she and Shirley move up towards the building. They walk along a small stone wall keeping low in case they are attacked. They appear to be the only people in the area and Minna can't sense anything using her magic but then again she never sensed those machines in the factory so sending those two to scout it out will be the best thing to do right now.

"Do you see anything Mio" Minna asks.

"No but I there are plenty of places to hide here" Sakamoto replies looking around. "Do you think that waters drinkable?"

"I don't know" Minna answers while she shakes her head. "We'll have to check it out later"

"I hope it is because those bottles will only last a day or two" Sakamoto states.

"Yeah I know but you never know that house might have running water" Minna replies.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

Shirley and Gertrud make it to the house without a problem. The house is the only building still standing here as only the foundations of two other buildings remain. From the looks of it they were both burnt down as burnt wood is scattered over the foundation. The wooden building also looks like it was once on fire but unlike the other two remained standing.

"It looks clear let's go inside" Shirley says as she jumps over the wall and runs to looking through the missing front door.

"That was reckless we should of circled the building first behind that wall before walking up to the door" Gertrud tells her as she stacks up against the other side of the door and also looks inside.

"Yeah but I'm sure we would of heard something if anyone was here" Shirley replies as she walks inside.

The inside of the building is empty, the wooden floor creaks under Shirley's feet as she walks inside and the second floor is missing leaving only the stairs clinging to the wall. Looking up Shirley sees the blue sky and sun high above her. There are only two rooms left other than the one Shirley's standing in, a storage room and what appears to be a kitchen.

"Well this room is clear, go check the room over there while I check the other room" Gertrud says as she enters the building.

"Yes ma'am" Shirley says with a mocking salute and smile.

Shirley walks into the kitchen and hears Gertrud grunt in frustration at her mocking. The kitchen is just as barren as the other room with only a counter, oven and a tall fridge present in the room. Shirley walks up to the fridge and opens it. There is only two bottles on the bottom shelve. The bottles both contain a brown liquid which bobbles each time Shirley moves the bottle. There's a red label on the bottle with the letters faded but when Shirley looks at it closer she can make out the name Nuka-Cola.

"Find anything useful?" Gertrud asks as she comes into the kitchen.

"Just two bottles of something called Nuka-Cola" Shirley answers as she shows the two bottles to Gertrud. "How about you did you find anything?"

"I found five cans of food but the labels have ever gone missing or expired so I don't know what's inside and I found this shotgun" Gertrud says pulling out a double-barreled shotgun and placing it on the side. "Unfortunately I only found six shells for it"

"While it's still better than my axe and the two knifes we have already" Shirley says picking up the shotgun and examining it. "At least we have some fire power now"

"Yeah and I also found a radio that still works" Gertrud add taking the shotgun back. "Go tell the others that it's safe"

"Sure thing" Shirley says as she walks to the window and shouts out of it. "Hey guys its safe so come on down here!"

"Why do you have to be so loud?" Gertrud asks shaking her head in disapproval. "Someone could have heard you just then"

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Shirley asks. "That way we can find out where we are and what has happened"

"Yes if they don't try and kill us first" Gertrud replies. "We don't know who did this to the world and whoever did this could of heard you just than"

"All well it's too late now" Shirley says as she shrugs her shoulders.

* * *

Sanya V. Litvyak

Sanya was sat with Eila, Lynne and Yoshika outside watching the sunset and the creature Shirley killed earlier cook. It was Minna's idea to cook that animal before they open the can food. Yoshika and Lynne wasn't sure how to cook it so Eila ended up skinning and gutting the animal for them and setting it up on a spit over a fire that Sanya had set. They have been watching it cook ever since hopping that they will be able to tell when it's done.

The setting sun lights up the sky in a red and orange glow as it sets over the grassy hill. The first stars are starting to light up in the sky and a full moon rises behind the mountain. The night sky is luckily clear as the witches are sleeping without a roof over their heads in that building. For the first time in ages Sanya feels cold as the night blows in. it is such a relief to be cold after being in the scorching heat back at the base.

"Hey if you're cold you can move closer to the fire" Eila says as Sanya shivers slightly.

"No I'm fine" Sanya replies. "It feels good to be cold after that heat wave and it reminds me of home"

"Well just make sure you don't catch a cold ok" Eila says.

"Don't worry I won't" Sanya answers. "I think you should tell Minna about your vision now I seen her alone walking by the wall earlier"

"Yeah I'll go speak with her but first" Eila says turning to Yoshika. "I think that thing is done"

"Oh I get it" Yoshika says as she moves over to the fire followed by Lynne.

"I'll go find Minna and tell her" Eila says as she gets up and turns back to Sanya make sure Yoshika doesn't drop that thing in the fire"

"Ok see you soon Eila" Sanya says before Eila walks off towards Minna who's sat on the stone wall watching the setting sun.

Highway 24

Dean Camron

Dean and his squad managed to get out of the ruined city and walk down the highway without any more problems but now they have to turn off the highway and walk over a large hill to get to the raider camp they have to take out. Once they get over this hill they just need to cross a river to get to the ridge where they will plan their attack from.

The fight in the city has put them behind schedule and the sun has nearly set. The moon has already risen and stars are starting to appear as the temperature drops rapidly. Within seconds Dean can see the white mist of his breath in front of his face.

"Hey wait, what's that light over there?" Nathan asks aiming his weapon in the direction of a distance glow.

"Ignore it probably a roaming trader camping for the night" Alex says as he looks at the glow through the scoop of his rifle. "They don't seem armed so let's keep moving"

Dean and his squad carry on to cross the river and to enter the forest. This forest is growing fast because of the G.E.C.K accident in the nearby factory. The Brotherhood tried improving the G.E.C.K or Garden of Eden Creation Kit five years ago causing the plants and trees in the surrounding area to grow incredibly fast turning the dead forest filled with burnt trees into a thick forest with gigantic oak trees ten times the size of any other tree. It's lucky that the G.E.C.K had a limited range ever wise this forest would have consumed the entire Wasteland within a month.

It isn't hard to navigate the forest even in complete darkness thanks to the Scribes and Knights work on restoring old technology. They recently rediscovered night vision and built it into the helmets. Now when they should see complete darkness they see perfectly fine and can easily move through the forest. Ten minutes later they reach the ridge overlooking the clearing where the raider camp is located.

**Information**

**The Fallout world where my story is set and some of the characters in will be made up at first but I will be moving into the Capital Wasteland and a characters from Fallout 3 will be present in later Chapters.**


	4. Crossing Paths Part 1

The Forest

Alex Franco

Alex is lying down on the ridge scanning the raider camp with the scoop of his Gauss rifle making mental notes of the raiders positions. They have ten tents set up in a circle around a camp fire. Both of their dogs are trapped inside a cage on a badly built wagon. Most of the raiders are sitting around the campfire dinking, joking loudly and two are having an arm wrestling contest. Alex has seen enough and crawls back to the others.

"Here's the plan Nathan take up position by the rock down slop to the left of the ridge, Sam you Dean and Jayson will move to the tree line to the right of the camp and together we will catch them in a crossfire" Alex says as he re-joins the group. "Everyone got the plan. Good remember they can't see in the dark like we can so stay out of the light and use the shadows to our advantage, attack once I bring down their leader"

Alex crawls back to the ridge and scans the camp the leader of these raiders. He finds who he's looking for quickly standing in the middle of the group standing over one of his men reminding who's in charge. He's wearing a white top covered in blood and mud stains with a football shoulder pads. He has black trousers and boots and a deer skull on top of his head. Most of his men are topless wear ripped and stained trousers with black boots. He has a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whisky in the other. All of the raiders are very drunk making now the perfect time to strike as most of the raiders can't even walk straight.

He looks through his scope again to check everyone's in position. He first cheeks Nathan and spots him kneeling behind a rock resting his Gatling laser on top of it, he then checks on Sam's team who he sees lying in a ditch to the right of the camp looking down the scopes of their laser rifles.

He once again takes aim at the raider leader and fires. His targets brain gets scattered all over two other raiders sat on the ground near him. As he quickly reloads his gauss rifle he watches Nathan rain down laser fire into the camp cutting down three raiders instantly turning one to ash before they knew what hit them. Sam's group follows suit firing into the raiders killing one instantly who drops a torch setting a nearby tent on fire and wounding another. Alex takes aim at a raid spraying his sub machinegun aimlessly into the darkness and fires blowing his head into millions of tiny pieces and a bloody mist. Three of the raiders try to make a run for it but Nathan cuts them down turning them all into a limbless corpses. Dean fires and brings down a crazed raider charging him screaming like a wild beast with a knife held high above his head. Dean quickly put a laser beam into his heart getting covered in the raider's ash in the progress. Alex now takes aim at the wounded raider who's hiding behind their wagon holding his bleeding arm. Alex fires shooting the raider through the neck causing his blood to spill from his open throat turning his chest and black trousers red. Sam brings down the last raider as he tries to make a run for it covering a tree with his blood and brains.

"Alright good work everyone lets regroup at the camp fire" Alex says over the radio as he watches Nathan kill both the dogs still locked in their cages. "That's not nice Nathan they was not a threat to us while they were in their cages"

"While I see it as giving them a quick death as we probably would have left them in the cages to starve to death" Nathan replies as he and Alex walk towards the campfire together.

"No we would have set them free and they would live in the wild" Alex says as they reach the bottom of the hill.

"And then they would attack and I'll have shot them" Nathan adds as they join the others at the camp fire surrounded by the dead raiders.

"He's got you there sir" Jayson says as they regroup.

"Ok you may be right but let's just find that drone and get back to the fort where we can debate this in peace" Alex says as he walks through the group shaking his head.

* * *

By the River

Mio Sakamoto

"Do you really think Eila's vision means anything?" Sakamoto asks Minna after she finishes telling her about Eila's vision. "She's never had a vision before and I don't really believe in sprites anyway"

"I know you don't but she seems sure about what she seen and believe it could help us so I think we should consider speaking with the Brotherhood of Steel if we come across them at any point" Minna replies. "What do you think?"

"While I think we should we should try and learn more about this Brotherhood before we act" Sakamoto answers as music start to play coming from the wooden building where the others witches are. "While I guess Shirley fixed the radio"

"While it's getting cold so we should head back" Minna says as she gets up. "Come on and you never know but this Brotherhood might be mentioned on the radio"

"Fine I never thought I'd miss the boiling heat this much" Sakamoto says as she also gets up.

"Yeah me ever, but I wish it wasn't this cold though" Minna replies with a smile as she and Sakamoto walk towards the building and sound of music. "I think I recognize this song"

"Yeah me too it's "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" right" Sakamoto says as the course starts to play.

"Yeah that's it, I haven't heard this song in a while" Minna tells Sakamoto as they walk into the building.

Everyone sits there listing to the song in silence as it reminds them of home and their last sight of their burning base. Every one of the witches has heard this song before but this is the first time they really listened to it. Before they would talk amongst themselves as the song played in the background but right now they can't help but listen to it. As the song end the witches still remain silent as the man hosting the radio show begins to speak.

"This just in the Enclave has launched a new offensive in the Flatlands forcing the NCR into retreat and capturing Saltlake City and the mining town of Cliften" The man says. "The NCR sent reinforcements in time to hold them at the Canyon Bridge; this is Three Dog wishing the NCR good look along the front line against those murdering Enclave all the way from the Capital Wasteland"

"I never heard of the Enclave or the NCR before" Lucchini says.

"Yeah me never" Shirley says and gives a slight pause before adding. "And I never heard of any of those places that were mentioned ever"

"The Enclave also launched an assault on the Capital Wasteland but the valiant efforts of the Brotherhood of Steel quickly pushed those sons of bitches back. Thanks to our brothers and sisters in power armour the Enclave was defeated in less than an hour of combat"

"While the Brotherhood doesn't sound too bad maybe your right and we should speak with them" Sakamoto quietly says.

"Yeah but now we need to find them" Minna says as she wonders how on earth they will find them.

"Our savours in power armour are leading the fight against the Enclave and the way to freedom across the Wasteland so make sure to thank them the next time you come across them" Three Dog says as Minna starts listen again. "This is Tree Dog signing off but not before one last song from me to you. This is Mighty, Mighty Man coming at you from all the way in the Capital Wasteland"

"Well maybe we could ask Three Dog he probably knows where they are" Minna says as she thinks about it. "Some one probably knows where the Capital Wasteland is and when we get there we can ask someone there where to find Three Dog"

"Sounds like a plan" Sakamoto replies with a yawn. "We should probably get some sleep and leave at dawn if we are going to find someone to ask"

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

The next morning Sakamoto and Minna woke everyone up at drawn and told everyone their plan as the witches ate their breakfast of beans which were in the cans Gertrud found. They were going to find the Capital Wasteland and then Three Dog to ask him wear to find the Brotherhood of Steel. Minna and Sakamoto both believe that the Brotherhood is our best hope of getting back to their world. The plan for today is to follow the river downstream to find any sign of a settlement where they can find someone to ask for directions to the Capital Wasteland.

The morning air is still chilly and a light fog floats through the valley. The sun is only just starting to rise and the sky is filled with white fluffy clouds. Birds start to sing and take to the sky.

"Does anyone have any objections to this plan?" Minna asks looking from witch to witch. "If you do please say so know as we must stay together in a group"

"How do you know we can trust the Brotherhood of Steel?" Gertrud asks as she stands up. "We only just heard of them last night and know nothing about them other than they are fighting the Enclave"

"Well we can trust them because" Minna answers as she turns towards Eila. "Eila had a vision telling her to find the Brotherhood of Steel and they can help us"

"Eila is that true?" Gertrud asks as she turns to face Eila. Gertrud's never believed in the physic stuff Eila believes in so she doesn't really believe the vision Eila had.

"Yes its true I did see them in a vision and a sprite told me to find them" Eila replies as she begins to tell them about her vision. It was a long story made even longer by Gertrud's and Perrine's constant questioning but eventually she gets through it. "That all I saw and heard in the vision"

"If there aren't any more questions than let's get going we're wasting daylight here" Sakamoto tells everyone before she walks outside. Everyone quickly follows her and walks outside into the morning mist.

They follow the Major down a dirt path running parallel to the river. The river is completely devoid of life. Even through the clear blue water you can see no fish or plant life of any kind floating around in the water. Shirley was hoping that she might have been able to catch a fish on their way down steam but now that looks hopeless. Everyone looks all around them as they walk taking in all the scenery. Sakamoto is leading the group carrying a knife in her hand with Minna walking beside her. Shirley and Lucchini are at the back of the group. Shirley is holding her axe in one hand and Lucchini's hand in her other. Gertrud and Erica are in the middle of the group with Gertrud holding the shotgun ready to fire at any minute.

Yoshika and Lynne are walking together towards the front of the group. They keep a constant eye out encase those machines return. Yoshika keeps drifting from one side of the river to the other. On the side she's walking it looks like the plants and trees are thriving while on the other side the trees on the top of the hill look scorched and dead and the hill top is free of grass.

"Hey Lynne what do you think happened to those trees over there?" Yoshika asks her friend as she nods to the trees across the river.

"I don't know it looks like there was a fire of some sorts and it most likely only stopped and didn't burn down the other trees because of the river" Lynne answers as she looks over to the burnt trees. "A that house we slept in was probably burnt in a different fire"

"I guess so but it's a shame that it had to burn I bet it looked beautiful before the fire" Yoshika says as she imagines the hill top filled with trees and deer grazing in the valley drinking from the stream.

"I'm sure it did Yoshika" Lynne replies.

* * *

The Forest

Dean Camron

Dean and his squad have searched and double searched the raiders dig site where there was meant to be a pre-war drone but find nothing. They have been searching all night and still haven't found any sign of it. The squad starts to get frustrated and their tempers fume as they continue to find nothing until.

"Hey I found something" Nathan calls over his radio. "On the north side of the camp are a bunch of drag marks"

"Good work Nathan" Alex says patting as he Nathan on the shoulder and after he confirms the drag marks. "Aright we are going to find a place to get some rest and at midday we are following those tracks"

"Finally I thought we'll never get a break" Jayson says jokingly as he leans against Dean's back.

"Yeah it's been a hard long mission so far" Dean replies as he sidesteps causing Jayson to fall to the ground.

"That's not nice kid" Jayson says as he picks himself up.

"While if you could hold yourself up than this wouldn't be a problem" Dean tells him as the squad gets moving again.

They move deep into the woods climbing over a huge root until they find a place to rest. It's a small clearing surrounded by trees and roots. The sunlight is blocked out by the interlocking branches above their heads and they are practically invisible as the roots and trees keep the clearing hidden from view.

"Everyone go get some rest I'll set the eye bot up to guard us so there is no need to take turns on watch" Alex says as he presses a few command buttons on the side of the eye bot. "I'll also set it to wake us up at midday"

"Got it and good night" Sam says to Alex as she lies down. Everyone else soon says their good nights is well and finds a place to lie down and sleep. Dean finds a nice comfortable spot next to a tree root and quickly falls asleep exhausted from all of yesterdays and last night's work.

Dean's dream is unusual and strange. He's stood on top of a hill looking down towards a river. There are eleven girls aging from about ten to twenty walking beside the river and they are wearing no trousers. Only three of the girls are armed and by the looks of the girl holding the shotgun she knows how to use it. Everything in his dream is so real to him. He can feel the heat of the sun, the wind blowing into his body and the presence of something behind him. Instinctively he turns around and goes for his laser rifle only to find it missing. He looks into the woods for any sign of the presence he sensed and a white glowing orb appears slowly floating towards him through the trees. At first he thought that it was the eye bot come to find him and that he must of sleepwalked his way out of the forest but as it got closer and closer it became clear that it was not the eye bot but something else, something Dean has never seen before.

"Do not be afraid Dean I am not going to harm you in any way" The orb tell s Dean and it flickers on each letter to leave its mouth. "I am only here to help you"

"Tell me the where fuck am I and who you are before we continue this conversation?" Dean demands as he takes a step back from the orb.

"You are still asleep with your squad back in the forest but right now you soul is at the edge of the woods" The orb tells him. "I am a sprit here to help you prevent a great destruction that is to come to this land"

"Then why is my sprit here?" Dean asks still confused about how he can be in two places at one time.

"Those girls there are your only hope to prevent the upcoming destruction and only working together you will be strong enough to prevent it" The sprit answers.

"What is this great destruction to come?" Dean asks as he starts to take the situation seriously.

"The Enclave have a new super weapon and are preparing to use it in the Capital Wasteland" The sprit replied. "If they are not stopped then the Capital Wasteland will fall quickly followed by the rest of the world"

"Then who are those girls and how will I get them to help us?" Dean asks as the sprit begins to fade away.

"They are already looking for you" Is all Dean could make out of the fate sounds coming from the sprit as it vanishes completely into thin air.

When Dean wakes up he's back in the clearing curled up on his side next to the tree root where he laid down. He takes a look up at the sky and even though he can barely see the sun he can tell that it's nearly midday. He lay's there on his side thinking. Thinking about how he will explain the sprit to the others and how to explain that they will need to work with outsiders to stop the Enclave. Persuading his squad to work with outsiders might be easy but to persuade the Elders will be a daunting task to say the least. The eye bot suddenly lets out a buzzing sound waking the others up to indicate that it's midday. As soon as everyone is awake Dean makes up his mind and decides to tell them. He takes a deep breath and says.

"Hey I need to say something" Dean calls out.

"What is it Dean?" Alex asks as he and everyone else in the squad turns to Dean. Dean then begins to tell them about his vision. After he's done telling them about his vision Dean takes another deep breath.

"Ok if we see those girls than I'll speak to them but I still don't believe that they can help us" Alex nods and says.

* * *

By the River

Perrine H. Clostermann

The witches have been following the river downstream all morning and now the grassy and soft dirt road is turning into a hard scorched ground and dead trees begin to pop up along the river. The witches would have already given up and turned back but Lucchini spotted smoke on the horizon and now the witches are heading towards it. The thin black column of smoke has en getting bigger and bigger with every minute that passes and step the witches take. The single smoke column has split up and formed several smaller columns that spread more and more further apart the closer the witches get. It raises their hopes that they will finally find someone as the smoke looks more and more like chimney smoke. It won't be long now to they reach the source of the smoke.

Five minutes later the witches walk over a hill and see their first person since they got here. But not just one but at least twenty or thirty people leaving in a village made of sixteen makeshift shacks with three caravans. The people seem to be farmers as a large fenced off field of neatly planed rows of some kind of crop are between the witches and the village and a heard of… of two head cows are standing and mooing in another fenced off area on the other side of the village.

"Do you really think we can find help here?" Sakamoto asks Minna. She was hoping to find someone who looks like they travelled a lot not a bunch farmers who probably never left the village. She really doesn't think that they will find help here or directions to the Capital Wasteland.

"While lets go find out" Minna says as she starts walking towards the village.

"Hey Yoshika do you really think that we'll find someone here to help us?" Perrine hears Lynne ask behind her.

"Yes these people probably travel around to sell their crops" Yoshika answers.

"How do you know that they only grow the food for themselves instead of selling them?" Perrine turns round to ask Yoshika. She always hated the fact that Yoshika was close to the Major and that made her want to find anyway to discredit her and find a way to drive her away from the Major and proving she's just speaking a bunch of bullshit about things she doesn't know will be a good way to do that in Perrine's mind. "These are the first people we've seen since we got here so if they are trading don't you think we would have spotted another village all something?"

"Well most farmer's trade and this place was hard to spot so there may be other places like this hidden nearby" Yoshika responds feeling nervous about the way Perrine is staring at her.

"While then where's the smoke? We saw smoke coming from here" Perrine pointed out.

"Hey Perrine please leave Yoshika alone she only shared her opinion" Lynne asks coming to the defence of her friend.

"Well I'm only stating my opinion about what Yoshika said" Perrine says as she walks away. What is it with her making everyone defend her? Perrine thinks as she walks off.

They enter the village and straight away they attract all the attention of the villages. They all stare at the witches bare legs making some of them uncomfortable but Shirley seems unaffected and seems to enjoy the attention she's getting. Above one of the building Perrine spots a sign telling her wear they are. They are in Redcannon.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

A man approaches the witches wearing a cowboy hat and some kind of blue vest over a white long sleeve T-shirt. He has black trousers and boots that clink when he walks. He's holding a pump action shotgun as he gets closer Minna spots a scare across his left cheek.

"What brings you lot into town missy" The man asks as he approaches Minna.

"We are just traveling and passing through" Minna responds as she looks up at the man who up close towers over her. "We were actually wondering if you could give us directions"

"That depends on where to miss" The man says.

"Well do you know how to get to the Capital Wasteland from here?" Minna asks nervously as she wonders if asking him was a good idea.

"Well I could tell you but you should reconsider since it's a warzone and over run by Super mutants down there" The man says with a slight laugh as if he can't believe they want to go there.

"Well we really need to get there so would you kindly please give us directions" Minna says and the man stops laughing and stares at her.

"Well it's your funeral" The man says. "It's about a two day walk in that north of here"

"Thank you sir" Minna says with a nod and she walks by him signalling the others to follow.

Everyone in the village still stares at the witches and Minna see's Sanya hide behind Eila and Lynne behind Yoshika. At least the villages are friendly waving or saying good afternoon to the witches as they walk past. They are stopped at the end of the street by the sounds of gunshot behind them.

They turn round a see the tall man who gave them direction just a few seconds ago drop to the floor with a bullet in his head. A man firing a hand gun runs out of one of the buildings firing at some target out of Minna's view but a hail of bullets rip through the man's chest sending him to the ground spilling on top of a pile of his own guts. Four men holding rifles run into the street and fire at the villages killing two of them and sending the others running for their lives.

More gunshot's ring out from the left of the witches and Minna turns to see a woman with some kind of small metal gun that has a high rate of fire firing into the crowd of fleeing villagers and another man with a flamethrower setting the caravans on fire. Cries of pain and screams of terror fill the air as the four rifle men move into the village chucking grenades through windows and doorways as they go.

The woman with the small gun notices the witches and fires a burst of bullets emptying her magazine in the process at the witches. Minna, Lynne and Yoshika quickly react and put up their shield protecting everyone from the incoming bullets. The riflemen notice this and open fire but Lucchini and Erica block their shots.

Gertrud, Shirley and Sakamoto run at the rifle man readying their weapons as they go. Gertrud attacks first firing at the closest man and filling his chest with lead. She quickly takes aim at a second man and fires blowing his head to pieces. Shirley then reaches her target as he reloads. He only just reloaded his rifle when Shirley brings her axe down on him splitting his head in two. Sakamoto ducks and dodges her way through the gun fire until she reaches her target. He has no chance as he tries to swing his rifle at her. Sakamoto dodges with ease and then drive her knife deep in the man's throat getting her own hand covered in the red stream of blood pouring out of his neck.

Minna, Lynne and Yoshika can't get a break as the women with the small gun fires unrelentingly at their shields. Minna can see out of the corner of her eye Shirley return carrying two rifles and wear a two belts filled with ammo and she assumes Sakamoto and Gertrud did the same.

"Take that women out she's been firing none stop at us" Minna orders as more bullets hit her shield. She is replied with a gunshot coming from her right and a bullet entering the women's chest. The women falls to the ground dead and the man with the flamethrower takes aim but a bullet through his head stops him before he can fire.

"I think that's all of them" Sakamoto says as she walks up behind Minna.

"I think so too" Minna replies as she takes a breath of relief for surviving the battle. "Alright everyone spread out and help the wounded"

"Yes ma'am" Everyone responds as they rush to help the villagers.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

Lynne and Yoshika are in the middle of the crop field helping several wounded children who tried to hide amongst the crops. Yoshika uses her magic to heal them while as Lynne just sticks to applying bandages and holding their hand as her friend heals them. At first the children was too afraid of Yoshika's power to accept her help but after seeing her heal one of their friend they soon gave in and accepted her offer of help. Apparently in this world they don't have magic unless it's in a story and they never heard of a witch before.

"Lynne I need you to hold her still while I heal her" Yoshika requests as she tries to heal little girl no older than five with long blond hair and is wearying a pretty flowery dress. The girl has been shot in the stomach and should and is rolling around screaming in pain.

"Ok I try" Lynne replies as she tries to hold the girl without causing her any more pain. Her job is made even harder by the girl's constant cries of agony and screams that escape her lips as she tries to move around.

"I'm done now you can let go Lynne" Yoshika says after a few minutes of healing.

The little girl runs off as soon as Lynne releases her towards the villages. But as soon as she's out of sight Lynne hears running behind her and when she turns around to see who is coming something hard hits her in the head knocking her to the ground. The last thing Lynne sees before she loses consciousness is two men grabbing and gaging Yoshika before she could call out for help.

When Lynne wakes up again the sun is starting to set and she can the other witches calling out hers and Yoshika's names. She tries to call back but she can't make any sound louder than a whisper come out of her mouth. She must tell them what happened to Yoshika. She tries to stand but no longer has the strength in her arms to push herself up. She has no choice but to crawl back to the others. Every inch she crawls' leaves her exhausted and feeling like she's going to blackout again. But she's determined to tell the others about Yoshika no matter how much she hard or long it will be to do it. Luckily Gertrud and Erica spot her as she leaves the crop field and run over to help her.

"Lynne what happened where Yoshika?" Gertrud asks as she reaches the injured witch and notices the large bump on her head.

"They… They took her. They took Yoshika" Is all Lynne managed to weakly say before she loses consciousness again.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud has been ready to after those bastards ever since Lynne told her what happened to Yoshika. She was going to make each one of those sons of bitches pay for touch Yoshika and if they so much as hurt or threaten her then she will make sure there is no safe place on this earth where they can go. She's been waiting outside the room where the villages put Lynne waiting for Minna to come out and give the order to go after those bastards. But when she exits she looks depressed and worried. All other the witches gather around Minna eager to ask her how Lynne is but stop when they see the look on her face.

"Everyone I got some bad news" Minna says and Gertrud notices a tear roll down her cheek. "The doctor says her brain was damaged and there's nothing he can do for her and he's given Lynne a few days left to live"

"What can't they do anything for her?" Erica asks in disbelief and at the same Lucchini lets out a little sob. Shirley comfort's the young witch and all of them fall silent as the news sinks in.

"They said they don't have the equipment her necessary to treat her and they won't be able to get it in time" Minna answers after a few moments of silence. "But Yoshika should be able to heal her so we must find and rescue her as soon as possible"

"It's about time what is the plan than?" Gertrud asks eager to do something other than sit around watching Lynne die.

"Lucchini I won't you to stay by Lynne's side, Sanya and Eila I want you to stay here too and protect Lynne until we return. Everyone else will come with me and find Yoshika" Minna says with a look of determination in her eye's Gertrud hasn't seen in years.

"Where will we start looking?" Sakamoto asks.

"The doctor told me that the people that attacked are a group of is a group of raiders based at an old warehouse built into the cliff two hours south of here" Minna tells the group. "We'll start there and if Yoshika's not there than we'll find some clue there as to where their other camps are"

**Information**

**The Fallout world where my story is set and some of the characters in will be made up at first but I will be moving into the Capital Wasteland and a characters from Fallout 3 will be present in later Chapters.**


	5. Crossing Paths Part 2

Unknown

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika was thrown into what looks like a broom cupboard and the door slammed shut and clicked locked behind her. Her hands were bound behind her back and her mouth was gaged by a piece of cloth. The room she was in was a tiny windowless rectangular room. When Yoshika sat down she couldn't even extend her legs fully the only light in the room was hanging by a freed and constantly flickered on and off.

Yoshika was terrified. She had no idea why they took her and what they want but no matter how scared she is it is nothing compared to her worry for Lynne. Lynne who she last saw lying lifeless on the ground as they carried her away. She hopes Lynne's alright and would give anything to know if she was. But the door of Yoshika's cell slams open bring back her own fear as a man walked into the room holding a knife.

"You better not scream or I'll cut out your tong" the man says before he cuts the gag off and lets it fall to the ground. The man has blue paint war paint on his face in the form of two lines on both his cheeks. He has an eye patch over his right eye like Sakamoto but unlike her his is from an injury as he has what looks like claw marks scaring around the eye patch. He is wearing a black jacket and belt wear he has a sheath for his knife and another knife attached to it. He waves the knife in front of Yoshika's face making her nervous as her eyes are drawn to the shiny blade of the knife as it goes from left to right. "You will speak when spoken to all like I said you'll lose your tongue"

"You are the one who healed those children right?" The man asks still waving around the knife in front of Yoshika's face. Yoshika nods in response but that seemed to annoy the man and he takes the knife and slowly cuts across Yoshika's cheek. Yoshika grits her teeth through the pain and fights to hold back the tears forming in her eyes determined no to let this wicked man see her cry. "I want you to answer me using your voice or do I have to cut open your mouth to get you to do that? Now answer the question"

"Yes I healed them" Yoshika answers in a shaky voice as she feels her warm blood drip down her cheek.

There was that so hard?" The man asks as he cleans Yoshika's blood off his knife using the end of her shirt. "No tell me how you did it because I was told you used a blue light to make their injury's disappear?"

"I used a healing spell on them" Yoshika tells him but after seeing his confusion she adds. "I'm a witch and I can use magic to heal people"

"Really because I've travelled around a lot raiding and never once have I meet or heard of a witch?" The man asks in disbelief as he pulls Yoshika to her feet. "I give you a chance to prove you calm that you're a witch"

"What do I have to do to prove it?" Yoshika asks and the man instantly backhands her in the cheek making Yoshika taste blood in her mouth.

"I wasn't done talking hasn't anyone told you it's rude to interrupt someone!" The man shouts at her as her pulls her by the collar to stop her from falling over from the hit and covers her face in spit as he shouts. "No then come with me an keep quiet"

* * *

Redcannon

Francesca Lucchini

Lucchini, Eila and Sanya haven't left Lynne's side since the others left. Lucchini has been sitting on a wooden chair next to Lynne's bed holding her hand in the hope that Lynne would not die as long as she held onto her. Lynne look so peaceful lying there asleep on the bed, her face looks so young and beautiful and her long pretty hair hides the lump and the bruises that are starting to appear completely. If someone walked now it will look like she was asleep and not on deaths door like she is now. Lucchini feels so helpless here. All she can do is sit here and hold Lynne's hand unable to help her in any way.

"Do you think they will find Yoshika in time?" Lucchini asks on the verge of crying.

"Don't worry I'm sure they will and then she'll save Lynne" Sanya says quietly into Lucchini's ear. Just the sound of her sweet quiet voice is enough to calm Lucchini down but a few tears still make it down her cheek which she swiftly wipes away.

"Yeah you just wait and watch" Eila confidently adds. "They will be back in no time and Lynne will be up on her feet again you just need to have faith and trust in our squad mates"

"Yeah your right they be back to save Lynne" Lucchini says as her sprit lifts. She just needs to trust the other witches and have faith that they will return with Yoshika who will in turn save Lynne. All she needs is a little faith. "Thanks that really helped"

"Don't mention it" Eila says as she pats Lucchini on the shoulder.

"We're your friends Lucchini and will always be there to help you" Sanya says.

* * *

Outside the Warehouse

Mio Sakamoto

Sakamoto was lying down looking into the compound the raiders built around the warehouse with a pair of binoculars that she borrowed from the villagers. They built a wooden fence around the compound and have a wooden guard towers ever side of the only entrance and another two guard towers along the fence. They have two rows of tents set up inside the compound and two wooden shacks. The door to the warehouse has broken off and the metal doors now lay on the ground next to the entrance.

There is a raider in each watch tower armed with a rifle and another two stood chatting by the gates on armed with a rifle and the other with a pump action shotgun. Inside the compound are six raiders unarmed by a campfire and another three leaning against one of the wooden shacks also unarmed. By the entrance to the warehouse are a guard stood a raider armed with one of those small metal guns on ever side of the door.

Then Sakamoto spots what she was hoping for, Yoshika being dragged by her collar into the warehouse. Sakamoto focuses on Yoshika and her blood boils when she sees the bleeding cut on Yoshika's cheek and the bruise on the other cheek. She vows here and now that she will make them pay for that, they will pay for every drop of blood that forced out of Yoshika. Sakamoto is still pissed off when she re-joins the other witches. The witches are now equipped with hunting rifles thanks to the villagers who gave them the weapons once they heard what they were planning on doing.

"I have good news and bad news" Sakamoto quietly tells the others so the raid won't hear them. "The good news is that Yoshika is there. The bad news is that that place is a fortress and it looks like Yoshika's been roughed up a bit"

"How badly is she hurt?" Gertrud asks as soon as she hears the word "roughed up" applied to Yoshika.

"I could only see cuts and bruises" Sakamoto answers looking into Gertrud eyes and she knows from that look that they both want the same thing, vengeance for Yoshika.

"Let's focus getting in their first what's their defensives like and where are the keeping Yoshika?" Minna asks as she is eager to come up with a plan to save Yoshika and then Lynne.

"Well they have four watch towers looking over a metal wall. There's only one way in and out of the compound and that's guarded by to guards and a wooden gate. The entrance to the warehouse is also guarded by two raider and there nine raiders that I can see inside the compound and they are all unarmed. I don't know if any ones inside the tents or wooden shack but I know Yoshika and at least one raider is in the warehouse" Sakamoto replies as she draws a map of the base in the dirt with a stick.

"That won't be easy to fight our way into and it will be nearly impossible to sneak in" Erica points out catching everyone by surprise as she normal never has an opinion on tactics.

"I have an idea" Shirley says and every one turns to her.

"What is it Shirley?" Minna asks her making room for her to get closer to the map Sakamoto drawn.

"We lure them out of their fort then attack" Shirley suggests.

"How will we do that?" Gertrud asks. Shirley explains her plan and everyone listens to her and watches her draw on to the dirt map.

"If no one has any disagreements then I say we go for it" Minna says after thinking about it for a few seconds. No one objects and within ten minutes everyone's in position.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

"I'll take the guard towers on the left you take the right" Shirley orders as she takes aim at her first target.

"Got it" Perrine replies.

Shirley and Perrine fire at almost the same time. Shirley's bullet hit its mark hitting the women in the guard tower between the eyes causing her to fall to the ground. Shirley quickly takes aim at the young raider in the other tower at puts a bullet in one of his ears and the other causing him to cartwheel out of the tower and land head first into the ground.

"They still don't know where we are" Perrine hissed as she kills the raider in the other guard tower she was ordered to attack.

"Take out the guards at the gate I got an idea" Shirley says as she knells and fires into the panicked crowd of raiders scrabbling to get their weapons. She hits on of them in the hip but fails to kill him. He falls to the ground screaming out in agony as he tries to hold the blood in his body with his bare hands. Shirley quickly fires again this time hitting his heart putting out of his misery. "Fire into the crowd until they start to advance on us"

It doesn't take long for the raiders to leave their fortress and attack the two witches. After watching several of their comrades die in front of them the raids charge filled with thoughts of revenge. Shirley and Perrine follow the plan to the letter and retreat across the river. They take up a new position on top a hill on the over bank overlooking the river crossing. A minute later the raiders appear on the hill the witches were just on but instead of carrying on across the river they stop on the hill.

"Stay here I'll lure them into the river" Shirley says as once again she gets up and fires into the group of raiders but this time she misses. As soon as she fires she makes a run for it and the raider's chance after her and run into the river.

"Take this TONNERRE!" Perrine shouts as she sends a bolt of lightning into the river killing seven raiders and leaving five more terrified on the other bank.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud is the first to open fire from where she and Erica are hiding quickly putting a bullet into the head of a raider covering the other raiders in blood. The raider dies too quickly for her. He should have suffered more for hurting Yoshika. Eric followers suit and put a bullet in another raider's chest and before they knew what hit them all the witches open fire killing the remaining raiders in a hail storm of lead.

"Alright everyone, regroup on me" Minna calls out and all the witches' gathers around Minna.

"That was close I didn't think they were going to try and cross the river" Erica says with a sigh of relief.

"Stay focused we still need to get inside the warehouse and find Yoshika" Gertrud points out.

"She's right, here's the plan Shirley and Perrine take up your first positions and cover us while we advance into the compound. Once we reach the warehouse doors move up and wait outside the warehouse for use" Minna orders. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes ma'am" Everyone replies in high sprit.

"Good now let's go get Yoshika back" Minna says as she turns towards the compound.

Minna leads Gertrud, Erica and Sakamoto in a charge across the open ground towards the compound. The raiders really were in a hurry to give chance and left the wooden gate open allowing the witches to burst into the compound. There's not a soul in sight as most of the raiders chased after Shirley to their deaths. They clear the tents and shacks with no resistance but when they advance toward the warehouse they come under automatic fire originating from inside the warehouse. Likely the witches had their shield or they would have been torn to shreds in the storm of bullets coming at them.

Looking through her shield Gertrud spots the source of the gun fire. It's a turret hanging from the ceiling and firing with no one behind it pulling the trigger. It's grey and by the looks and sound of it Gertrud guesses that it fire a fifty calibre round. It keeps everyone supressed with heavy and accurate fire moving from one witch to the other. It almost seems impossible to get past when without warning the turret runs out of ammo. It seems harmless now but just to be sure Gertrud fires an entire magazine into it causing the turret to smoke and sparks to drop out of it.

"What is that thing?" Erica asks as she lowers her shields and looks up at the turret.

"We'll figure it out once Yoshika is safe.

* * *

The Forest

Dean Camron

"Well it looks like they took it to their Fortress at the old warehouse" Jayson says as he looks at his map and uses his finger to plot the course of the tracks. "It has to be there that's there only base in the area capable of storing something like that"

"I agree hopefully that dual knifing bastard is not there otherwise we'll be in trouble" Alex says as he remembers his last encounter with him.

"Well I'm feeling luckily lets go" Sam says.

"Yeah I'll love the chance to take that fucker out" Nathan adds.

"So would I" Dean says remember how bad a person that man is. He's called Maxus Dido. He's a mas murdering psychopath who kills people just for fun. His preferred weapons are two knifes that h always carries. Taking him out will bring fame across the Wasteland as there's not a person alive who doesn't know or been a victim of him at one point or the other.

"Well let's go bitch hunting" Alex says.

"Alright sir that's and a job I like" Nathan says as he gives his barrels a spinning.

"Let's get a move on than Nathan take point" Alex orders.

"Yes sir" Nathan replies as he takes the lead through the forest. Finally millions of victims will have justice.

* * *

Warehouse

Miyafuji Yoshika

"What's going on out there?" The man asks one of his men as he drags Yoshika into a back room of the warehouse.

"I don't know we are under attack but we don't know who by and they entered the warehouse" He replied.

"Take up positions in the here I guard this one" The man says as he starts to drag Yoshika once again by the collar. "They probably came for her anyway"

"You got boss" The subordinate replies as he aims his shotgun at the door.

The man dragging Yoshika loosens his grip on her as the step over some fallen rubble and Yoshika sees a chance to escape. She pulls back with all her might and manages to get free as the front of her shirt rips off. Yoshika is set flying back and lands facing the ceiling. Yoshika is quickly up on her feet and tries to get away but the subordinate with the shotgun grabs her arm and throws into the ground. The impact rips all the air from her lungs and leaves her face down winding on the ground trying to catch her breath. But before she has a chance the subordinate grabs her leg and twists it painfully making Yoshika cry out in agony.

"Should I break her legs boss?" The subordinate asks as he continues to hold his painfully hold on Yoshika's leg.

"No just make her suffer" The man answers with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry boss she'll be begging for your forgiveness soon enough" The subordinate replies as he twists Yoshika's leg making the hold twice as painful as before and another painful scream escapes Yoshika's lips. The pain is unimaginable making Yoshika think her leg is going to shatter.

Yoshika could hand the pain anymore but just when she was about to beg them to stop the subordinate falls on top of Yoshika and she can feel his blood covering her back from a wound on his chest. Yoshika looks to the door and see's Gertrud stood in the doorway holding a rifle of some kind.

"Yoshika are you alright?" Gertrud asks as she walks towards her and removes the body of off Yoshika not noticing the man behind her.

"Lookout he's be…" Yoshika tries to warn Gertrud but the man pulls Gertrud away from Yoshika and slams her into the wall.

The man pulls his arm back and swings a punch towards Gertrud's face. She manages to duck out of the way causing the man to punch the hard concrete wall behind her and curse loudly. He quickly recovers and kicks Gertrud in her side sending him to the ground. He tries to stomp down onto Gertrud but she rolls out of the way and aims her rifle at him. She tries to pull the trigger but he is too quick and is on her before she has a chance to fire knocking the gun from her hands causing it to slide across the room and following it up with a punch across Gertrud's cheek sending her to her knees.

"Come on is that all you got?" The man asks as he draws his knifes. "It seems a waste to kill a weakling like you so perhaps I'll kill your little friend there as you watch on helplessly"

"Leave her alone!" Gertrud shouts as she summons her familiar and punches the man as hard as she can in the stomach. The man falls to his knees and starts to cough up blood. "I'm not letting you hurt her anymore"

Gertrud picks up on of the man's knifes and stands over his helpless body lying on the ground coughing up blood. She drives the knife down with all her might into the man's skull. She brings it down so hard that even the handle of the knife disappears into the man's skull. He instantly stops moving a pool of blood forms under his head and grows to surround Gertrud's bare feet. She takes his over knife as the first one is hidden in the man's skull cover in blood and walks over to Yoshika and cuts her free of her binds.

"Are you ok Yoshika I could hear you screaming a mile off?" Gertrud says as she turns Yoshika around and hugs her. "You're not hurt are you?"

"No I'm fine I…" Yoshika begins to say as she gets up she quickly leans how injured her leg is as the instant she puts any weight on her foot a sharp excruciating pain shoots up her leg and throughout her body. Yoshika immediately falls back down gritting her teeth. "I'll be fine I just need to heal my leg.

"Not now we need to get out of here" Gertrud says as she picks Yoshika up. "They managed to call for help and more people are on the way"

Gertrud carries her over her shoulder to the entrance of the warehouse meeting Minna, Sakamoto and Erica on the way. As they get closer to the entrance Yoshika can hear gunshots and the sound of bullets impacting the wall. Gertrud puts Yoshika down against a wall and Yoshika spots Perrine and Shirley shooting out of the door.

* * *

Redcannon

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila rushes into Lynne's room to the sound of Lynne screaming. She is violently tossing and turning on her bed as she screams her head off. Lucchini and Sanya try desperately to restrain their flailing friend but unfortunately do not process the strength to do so. The doctors in the room filling a siring with a clear green liquid and when he notices Eila he says.

"Hold her down I need her to be still while I inject her" as he finishes filling the siring.

"What's in that needle?" Eila asks as she helps to hold down Lynne.

"It's an extract of a plant called a Broc flower that grows nearby" The doctor tells her as he walks over to Lynne. "It will cause temporary paralysis, hold her still while I inject her"

"Lynne please calm down" Lucchini begs as the doctor injects Lynne's arm and almost instantly she stops moving.

"What happened to her?" Eila asks now that Lynne was under control.

"She started scream and trashing all of a sudden like she had a bad dream all something" Lucchini answers as she sits back down in the wooden chair wiping the tears from her face and asks. "Is she going to be ok doc?"

"It was probably a bad dream but I check her over to be on the safe side" The doctor responds.

* * *

Outside the Warehouse

Dean Camron

Sam has led Dean and Jayson inside the compound while Nathan and Alex cover them from a nearby hill. They expected to find a tough fight when they got here but all they are finding is nothing but dead bodies. The only living raiders are all outside the warehouse firing into it. There are six raiders armed with hunting rifles, another two armed with 10mm SMGs and one armed with a Combat shotgun. They appear to be shooting it out with at least two people armed with hunting rifles inside the warehouse. Sam, Dean and Jayson are now taking up position behind the raiders.

"Alright open fire on tree, two" Alex says over the radio. As soon as he said one it was impossible to hear him say fire over the sound of laser fire Dean and his squad admit when they unleash hell onto the raiders.

Dean's first shot hits the raider with the shotgun in the back of the head turning him to ask. Four more raiders fall to laser fire before Nathan's Gatlin laser devastates the remaining raiders as her sweeps from left to right killing every raider in his sight.

"Who's there?" A voice of a young girl shouts out of the warehouse doors as soon as the last of the raiders hit the ground.

"The Brotherhood of Steel who are you?" Sam shuts back.

"We are just a bunch of travellers looking for are friend who these raiders took" The voice replies. "Please don't shoot us we mean you no harm"

"Show yourself then!" Sam demands as Alex and Nathan join the group.

"What's going on?" Alex asks as he walks up next to Sam.

"A group of travellers are the in there or so they clam. I asked them to come out so they should be leaving the warehouse anytime now" Sam tells Alex and Nathan bring them up to speed with the current situation.

A group of girls carrying hunting rifles and wearing no pants or shoes and socks. One of them is carrying another girl younger than the rest of them like a princess. The girl is barley unconscious and covered in blood stains. Dean immediately recognizes some of these girls from his dream.

"Um Alex I think these are the girls from my vision but four of them is missing" Dean says over the radio so the girls won't hear him.

"Ok I hear you" Alex says back over the radio before asking the girls. "Where are the other four of you?"

"It's just us hear I assure you" A tall red haired woman says as she takes a step forward.

"No there's not, we saw eleven of you yesterday by the river" Alex tells them remembering Deans vision. "Now tell the others to come out"

"They aren't here. One of us seriously wounded when theses raiders attacked a nearby village and stayed there with her" The red haired women replies, her answer causing the barley conscious girl to stare and ask.

"Who's hurt?"

"Well when they took you Lynne was hit pretty badly on the head and hasn't woke up since she told us you were taken" A girl with an eye patch answers the injured girl causing her to stir even more and try to get out of the hands of the girl carrying her.

"Yoshika calm down if you hurt yourself anymore you won't be able to help Lynne" The girl carrying her says and the injured girl slowly starts to calm down.

**Information**

**The Fallout world where my story is set and some of the characters in will be made up at first but I will be moving into the Capital Wasteland and a characters from Fallout 3 will be present in later Chapters.**


	6. Union

Outside the Warehouse

Mio Sakamoto

The witches and Brotherhood are in a standoff both pointing guns at each other and both waiting for the other group to make a move. A one of the Brotherhood finally breaks the standoff as he steps forward and removes his helmet. He has short black hair pale skin that looks like it's hardly seen the sun and bright blue eyes.

"My name is Dean Camron and I'm a Paladin in the Brotherhood of Steel" He says in a calm steady voice despite having several guns pointed at him.

"I'm Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke are you in charge of your squad?" Minna replies as she also steps forward to meet him. As she stands in front of him Minna has to look up because her head only comes up to his chin.

"No I'm just the friendliest member" Dean replies with a smile. "But he has giving me permission to speak on his behalf"

"Ok then why are you here because if you came to kill these bastards then you're out of luck because we beat you to it" Gertrud says.

"No we are looking for some old tech these raiders brought here a day or two ago" Dean says as he looks to Gertrud and then he turns back to Minna and asks. "I don't suppose any of you have seen a winged white thing probably covered in dirt have you?"

"Yeah I think I did see something like that in the warehouse" Minna replies. "By the way where did you see us before for because I never noticed you?"

"We were in the forest as you walked along the river and spotted you there" Dean answers her. "Also so I think I spotted your camp fire the night before that when we crossed the river"

"Was that village that was attacked Redcannon?" Another one of the Brotherhood says. This one carries a larger weapon then the others and has some kind of pack on his back which is connected to the gun by a thick wire.

"Yes I'm afraid it was" Minna replies as she turns to the one who asked her.

"Shit the NCR was meant to be protecting that village weren't there any soldiers there?" The man asks her shaking his head.

"No there were only two other people who forgot the raiders aside from us and they were both killed" Minna answers and an image of that nice man who gave them directions getting shot in the head returns to Sakamoto filling her mind.

"Those bastards sent mercenaries and were too cheap to hire enough to protect the town" The man says as he punches a dead tree next to him in frustration.

"Is he ok?" Minna asks as the dead tree starts to creak under another punch from the man.

"He's fine he just has a brother and niece that lives in Redcannon" A more feminine voice says as the Brotherhood member next to the enraged man goes over to him and quietly talks to him.

"Does your friend need help?" Dean asks nodding towards Yoshika. "I have medical training so I can see to here wounds if you want me to"

"Ok we'll be glad for your help" Minna says as she steps aside to let Dean through.

Dean walks straight over to Yoshika and Gertrud. She's probably not that seriously hurt but it's best to have someone check on her to be sure. Sakamoto watches Gertrud reluctantly place Yoshika down not quite trusting Dean or the Brotherhood yet and she keeps a close eye on Dean as he begins to treat the deep cut on Yoshika's chin. Sakamoto walks up to Minna.

"Do you think we can trust them?" Minna asks as Sakamoto reaches her.

"I don't know we only just meet them but they seem friendly and to care about people unlike these raiders" Sakamoto answers. Sakamoto's like Gertrud not willing to trust people she just met. They are interrupted by another member of the Brotherhood approaching them as he removes his helmet.

"I'm Alex Franco the leader of this squad" A man says as he reaches them. "Can you tell me how bad is it in Redcannon?"

"About ten people were killed including both the mercenaries, twenty six wounded and several buildings suffered fire damage" Sakamoto answers as she thinks back to the damage.

"I last question do you know if their ham radio survived the attack?" Alex asks.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you I never checked or asked about it" Minna answers after thinking about it for a few minutes. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"No I don't just give me a minute" He says before he walks off to three members of his squad who are talking amongst themselves. He must have ordered them to find that object they are looking for because all three of them head into the warehouse as Alex returns. "Ask away"

"Ok what are you hiding from us? Because Dean didn't look me in the eyes when he told me about how you saw us and from my experience that usually means someone ins lying" Minna Asks and Sakamoto can tell from the tone in her voice that she won't stop until he answers her.

"You won't believe me if I told you" Alex replies.

"Try me I heard and seen so many things that no one would believe" Minna tells him still determined to get an answer.

"Well Dean over there had a dream where he saw you lot walking by the river and some sprit told him to find you" Alex answers pointing to Dean and sounding a little embarrassed about saying such an unbelievable story. "He also said that the sprit told him you were already looking for us"

"Well we were" Minna tells him clearly surprising him. "One of us who stayed back at Redcannon had a vision and said a sprit told her that we needed to find you is well"

* * *

Redcannon

Sanya V. Litvyak

Lynne's screaming had left a lasting impression on Sanya as she can't get the sound out of her head or the sight of Lynne's flaying body. She sees it when she sleeps but inn her dream when she took a quick nap Lynne is awake and begging Sanya to kill her or cursing Sanya for not stopping the raiders for running off with Yoshika. Sanya woke from that dream sweaty and her heart racing. Desperate for fresh air she ran onto the roof and in healed deep breaths of cool fresh air. It didn't take long for Eila to notice and join Sanya on the roof.

"Bad dream huh" Eila softly says as she sits down next to Sanya. "Want to talk about it"

"No I'm fine" Sanya answers even though she doesn't know if it's the right choice. She's heard that speaking about nightmares can help but she doesn't want to remember her nightmare.

"Well if you change your mind I'm here for you" Eila tells her as she gently puts her hand on Sanya's shoulder.

"I know you are Eila you always have been there for me ever since we first met" Sanya says giving her friend a reassuring smile. "But I don't won't to talk about it Eila. I want to forget it ever happened"

"Ok I understand" Eila replies as she stands up. "If you need me I'll be patrolling the outskirts of village"

"Ok be safe out there" Sanya says as she watches her friend leave.

"I will I'm not going to let them take me or anyone else" Eila says as she exits the roof.

* * *

The River

Dean Camron

Dean and his squad have decided to travel back to Redcannon with the girls they meet at the warehouse. The girls seem friendly and kind a part from one with brown hair carrying their injured friend. Dean could heal all of her injuries but one. She has a sprained ankle caused by the raider who twisted her leg. It was comforting when Dean met the girls from his vision and even more comforting when they admitted one of their own had a vision similar to Dean's dream. It made him feel less crazy and more confident that he wasn't losing his mind.

"Hey you said your name was Dean, right?" A blond girl asks him as she walks up beside her.

"Yeah that right" Dean answered.

"So is it true you met the same sprit as Eila did?" The girl asks looking eager for an answer.

"Well I don't know if it was the same sprit but I did see and speak to a sprit" Dean replies as they enter the stream. "We also got told similar things from what Minna and Mio told me"

"Hey that sounds neat I really wish I'd spoken to it instead of Eila" The girl states with a confident smile. "We would of found you age's ago if that happened"

"Yeah I'm sure you would of" Dean says letting out a small snigger. "And preventing the upcoming destruction to right?"

"Yes and we would be walking to a bar right now to celebrating" The girl says laughing.

Yeah we would be" Dean says as he starts to giggle. "Who are you by the way?"

"Oh I'm Erica Hartmann" She says as she runs off.

* * *

Redcannon

Francesca Lucchini

Lucchini was still sitting next to Lynne in her wooden chair. She hasn't left Lynne's side or let go of her hand since she stopped screaming. She keeps glancing out of the widow and listening out for any sign that the others have returned. Lynne still hasn't regained consciousness and is still unable to move due to the injection the doctor gave her but she's still occasionally screams on the inside. Lucchini constantly sees Lynne's eyes clench shut even tighter and feels her heart triple its beats as a sweat begins to coat her body. Lucchini can tell by these signs that she's still having nightmares and that if she could she would be trashing and screaming like before.

Finally as the sun starts to set Lucchini starts to her voices outside of the locals getting louder and louder. A minute later Eila rushes into the room with a big smile on her face. She seems overly joyed and a lot happier than Lucchini has ever seen her.

"The others are back and they got Yoshika with her" Eila says as she enters.

"Let's great you hear that Lynne? You'll be back to normal in no time" Lucchini says as she feels a wave of relief shoot through her body.

Minutes later Gertrud walks into the room carrying Yoshika. She seems to have been roughed by the raiders with a bandage on her check and the other check is covered in a large bruise and her eye above the bruise has swollen shut. Gertrud also has several bruise on her face but doesn't seem to care about them.

"Lucchini get up Yoshika needs that seat" Gertrud ordered. Lucchini obeys immediately and as soon as she's up Gertrud gently places Yoshika in the chair.

"Are you ok Yoshika?" Lucchini asks.

"I'm fine" Yoshika answers as she starts to use her healing magic on Lynne. A bright blue light covers Lynne's body healing her wounds. Lucchini watches the lump on Lynne's head disappear leaving no trace behind. "You don't have to worry about me"

"How is she?" Minna asks as she and Sakamoto enter the room.

"I just finished healing her so she'll be fine when…" Yoshika begins to say as she finishing healing Lynne but she suddenly falls unconscious before she can finish.

"Yoshika, Yoshika are you ok?" Lucchini asks shaking Yoshika's shoulder worried that she might have just died.

"Calm down she just collapsed from exhaustion" Minna says as she walks over to Lucchini. "She has been through a lot recently and it probably took a lot out of her"

"I put here in the bed in the other room" Gertrud says as she picks up Yoshika.

"Ok then get ever Dean or the doctor to check your wounds" Minna says to her.

"I'm fine these are nothing but bruises" Gertrud replies as she carries Yoshika out of the room.

"You should go and get some rest too Lucchini it looks like you hardly seeped" Sakamoto tells Lucchini.

"Ok I'll go get some" Lucchini says as she leaves the room disappointed because she wanted to be there when Lynne wakes up.

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila was with Sanya watching the Brotherhood clean their weapons. They are all using strange energy based weapons which us power cells for ammunition. They are all wearing heavy suits of grey armour with the Brotherhoods logo on their shoulders. It's a dagger stabbing through two gears and two wings come out of the handle. The Brotherhood is staying here for a day or two when an NCR squad will arrive to protect the village.

"Are these the people you saw in your vision?" Sanya asks.

"Yes but I don't know but I don't know how we are meant to help them, how they are meant to help us or what the coming destruction is" Eila replies as she gets a closer looks at their weapons. "They could have the technology to help us"

"Yeah they seem more advance than anyone else we met so far" Sanya tells her. "What do you think happened to the world?"

"I don't know but it looks like what ever happened was very destructive" Eila answers as she thinks about all the ruins and dead trees they've seen since leaving the village. "We could always ask them"

"Sure how about that one he's alone" Sanya suggest pointing towards one of the Brotherhood members who just left the group. Sanya's always so shy, avoiding large groups like the plague and usually staying quiet and out of the way of other people.

"Ok let's go ask him" Eila says as she starts to walk towards the Brotherhood member. She quickly walks up to him. She stands up on her tip toes and taps the shoulder of the Brotherhood member.

"Is there something I can help you with?" The Brotherhood member responds as they take off their helmet reviling short blond hair, emerald eyes and a beautiful face of a woman.

"Um yes we were wondering if you could tell us what happened to the world" Eila asks her. "No one told us and we always wanted to know"

"Sure I can but you are going to need to be more precise as a lot has happened to the world recently" She answers.

"Ok how come the worlds in ruins?" Eila asks and out of the corner of her eyes she sees Minna, Sakamoto and Shirley listening in on them.

"A war happened over two hundred years ago between the United Stat of America and the e People's Republic of China. Both sides used super weapons called nuclear missiles against each other which turned the world into a radioactive wasteland that it is today" She tells them.

"How did anyone survive that?" Sanya asks probably imagining the destruction happening.

"In great underground bunkers called vaults" She tells them. "How come you never heard about the vaults there famous across the Wasteland?"

"Well people usually ignore us and not tell us a thing" Eila quickly tells hear. "Who's the NCR by the way?"

"The NCR are the New California Republic and now I know your hiding something from me because they only united the U.S.A last year" She says stepping towards them. "So tell me where you come from? Because you have to have travelled from far away to not of heard of the NCR"

"We have travelled a great distance to get hear and we come from Britannia" Eila answers telling her the truth about where she came from.

"Britain hasn't been called that for over a thousand years so tell me the truth because right now you are not making any sense" She says stepping back and drawing her side arm which looks like a smaller version of her rifle.

"That's because we from the past where none of this has happened yet" Minna says as she walks over to them. The other Brotherhood members seemed to have noticed this as they to gather round to see what's going on.

"You better start explaining yourself" The woman demands holding her sidearm at her side.

"Fine but we want some questions answered too afterwards deal" Minna says.

"Ok you got a deal" The man who appears to be in charge says. He takes off his helmet reviling an old man underneath with short grey hair and blue eyes.

* * *

Alex Franco

"Start off by telling us where you are really from" Alex says.

"We are from 1945 and we come from all over the world" Minna tells him. "The world where we are from is under attack by a nearly unstoppable enemy we call the Neuroi and they have conquered most of Europe and North Africa. We were stationed in Britannia before we ended up here and we have no idea how we got here other than the Neuroi were behind it"

"What is the Neuroi are they some kind of Fraction where you come from?" Nathan asks her as he leans in slightly.

"Well they are not human and they kill us on sight" Minna tells him slightly confused about the question. "We don't know where they came from or why there are here all we know is that they want to kill every human on the planet"

Just as she answers the question it starts to rain. A few small drops at first but it quickly starts to build up until its pouring down. The water is freezing cold and seeped through Alex's armour and onto his skin.

"Do mind if we take this inside?" Alex says nodding towards the village tavern.

"No I don't mind it's probably best to get out of this rain" Minna replies as she shivers from the cold rain soaking her body.

The tavern isn't very big inside. There are only three tables, a bar with stools and a pool table inside. The windows of the tavern have been shattered by a grenade during the raiders attack leaving glass all-over the floor. Behind the bar are shelves over beer and wine bottle nearly all shattered by the grenade that took the windows. The group of girls and Alex and his squad gather around one of the tables and continue their conversation.

"Well this is better so you were saying that in your time the world is under attack by the Neuroi and you lot were fighting to stop them" Alex says restarting the conversation and Minna nods in response. "So why some of you fighting at such a young age are most military aged people in your time dead?"

"Well you may not believe me but we're witches and can use magic" Minna tells him. "We are more powerful at a young age so most of se are younger than the rest of the military"

"Really you can use magic I thought that only existed in stories?" Dean says surprised at what he just heard.

"Yes we can" Sakamoto tells him. "Isn't there any witches in your world?"

"Not that I know of and according to old texts and documents the Brotherhood has found over the years it seems that all the witches where hunted down and killed between 1480 and 1750" Dean tells her. "So now magic and witches only appear in stories"

"Why would they do that?" Sakamoto asks him before she realizes something about what he just told her. "Wait that can't have happened ever wise I won't be here or any of the other witches if they were all killed between 1480 and 1750"

"While to be honest I think you might not be in your world anymore because here Britannia is called Britain or the United Kingdom and between 1939 and 1945 was the Second World War and that was forget with humans against humans and there was never any mention of this Neuroi" Alex says getting their attention again.

"That can't be humans haven't had a war amongst themselves for over five hundred years where we are from they can't have had a war amongst themselves" Minna says in disbelief mot wanting to accept how far away from home they really are. "Are you sure your historians got it right?"

"Well they have got stuff wrong in the past but there is a lot of evidence in old museums about the war and it's famous because the first nuclear weapon was used during that war and of six million people died plus Europe and Japan was in ruins after wards" Alex tells them.

"So we are really are in a parallel world" Minna says getting depressed.

"Hey don't get upset miss if there's a way to get you here from your world than there's a way to get you back" Dean tells her which seems to cheer her up a bit.

"Do you really think so?" Minna asks.

"Yes there's nothing that can't be undone" Dean tells her putting a smile on her face.

"So do you have any questions you want answering?" Alex asks her as the room lights up from a lightning bolt.

"Yes I do" Minna says turning back to him, her voice going almost unheard above the rumble of thunder.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna take a few moments to calm down and let what Alex just told her sink in. This world sounded horrible. The planets a radioactive wasteland, raiders and bandits roam freely, the people of this world constantly going to war with each other and all the witches are dead. Minna never expected to hear that or any of it for the fact. She was expecting to be told that she wondered into a recently recaptured area and those raiders were a bunch of escaped convicts trying to avoid capture. Minna calms down by taking deep breaths and focusing on the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof above her and the puddles outside.

"What exactly is the Brotherhood of Steel?" Minna asks once she's composed herself.

"We are probably the second most advanced group behind the Enclave. We are trying to rebuild the world to the way it was before the nukes fell" Alex answered.

"Why would you want that when the old world seems so terrible" Shirley asks him.

"Because it's better than the way it is now and when it's rebuilt hopefully we won't make the same mistakes our ancestors made" Alex says.

"Do you lot control a lot of military bases because you seem to be carrying a lot of fire power" Shirley asks him as she looks around at the guns the Brotherhood are holding.

"Yes and the founders of the Brotherhood are a bunch of defectors from the U.S army so we pretty much took control of a lot of bases after the bombs fell to secure weapons" Alex answers.

"Why do they defect?" Minna asks him.

"It's a long story if you want to know" Alex warns her.

"I've got time tell me how the Brotherhood started" Minna replies and Alex takes a deep breath before saying.

"The Brotherhood is the descendants of an old U.S military division stationed at West-Tek facility in California that defected day before the world was turned into a wasteland founded by Captain Roger Maxson. They defected after discovering that the U.S government was conducting human experiments with F.E.V or Forced Evolutionary Virus on unwilling people. Captain Maxson proceeded to interrogate Robert Anderson, the chief scientist behind the research to find out more about the experiments. After that Anderson, along with most of his research team were executed for their crimes. The next day was when the nukes fell turning the world into a radioactive wasteland. Captain Maxson and his men survived the attack thanks to the bases protection from radiation and took control of the base. Two days after the attack, on October 25, Captain Maxson sent one of his men, Platner, outside in protective power armour to scout the area and check for radiation. Platner reported that there were no significant radiation levels. After that Captain Maxson and his men raided the base for weapons, supplies and weapon semantics before leaving the base. They headed into the desert finding other survives along the way including Maxson's wife and teenage son. After many weeks of traveling through the desert losing people to raiders and the harsh conditions Captain Maxson finally led everyone to a government fallout shelter called Lost Hills at first. In time he set up the bunker as the headquarters of the Brotherhood of steel vowing that the world will be rebuilt no matter the cost" Alex finishes explaining how the Brotherhood began taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry but who are the Enclave?" Minna asks.

"Well there what's left of the U.S government and army" Alex tells her.

"Then why aren't you working with them because we heard on the radio that you're at war with them?" Sakamoto asks him as she thinks back to the night by the river.

"Because they are mass murders, think that everyone who lives in the wasteland must die and what to carry on their experiment with the F.E.V" Dean tells them with discontent.

"Why would they kill all those innocent people?" Eila asks as all the witches in the room thinks about what they are doing.

"Because everyone in the wasteland is affected by radiation and they think it corrupts people's genes so they kill them to stop them from breeding and passing on that corruption" Dean answers.

* * *

Erica Hartmann

Erica was with her best friend Gertrud in Yoshika's room watching the rain from the window. Erica can't help but notice that her friend is pissed off. She keeps clenching her fists every time she looks at Yoshika, the way she moves, the posture of her body and the way she has punched the wall several times leaving several holes in the wall. Erica doesn't need any of that to know that her friends angry she can feel Gertrud's anger and she knows why she's so angry and she expected her to be angry when she saw the state Yoshika was in.

"It wasn't your fault Trude" Erica says as he grabs her friends arm as she attempts to put another hole in the wall. "Hurting the wall won't do anything to help"

"It was because I checked that field after the bandits left" Gertrud says freeing her arm from Erica's grip. "If I would have done it right than Lynne wouldn't have nearly died, Yoshika wouldn't have been taken and then they wouldn't have hurt her"

"The field was clear when we checked it and the raiders who did it probably snuck in there after we checked it" Erica tells Gertrud trying to calm her down. "It wasn't your fault Trude; you aren't responsible for what happened to Lynne or Yoshika. The one's responsible most likely died at the warehouse"

"I know there dead but I can't help it" Gertrud says taking a deep breath. "I can't get Yoshika's screams out of my head and I can't help but imagine Chirs in Yoshika's place when I think about it"

"I know you can't and Yoshika's screams shuck us all up but punching holes in the wall will only bring the ceiling down and hurt her even more" Erica says grabbing Gertrud's fist before she can punch the wall again. "Please calm down"

"Barkhorn" A voice weakly calls out. The two turn to see Yoshika slowly siting up and looking at them. She still can't open on of her eyes that has swollen shut and her other eye blinks sleepily at them.

"Yoshika you need to go back to sleep" Gertrud tells her in a calmer voice than she's been using. "You need to rest you look exhausted"

"Is Lynne ok?" Yoshika ask as Gertrud gently tucks her back into bed.

"Yes she's fine Yoshika" Gertrud tells her. "You saved her"

"Yeah Yoshika you don't have to worry about her she's going to be fine" Erica tells her as she falls back to sleep.

"Now please calm down before you wake her up again" Erica tells her friend who nods in response.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna, Sakamoto and Shirley have been sat in the tavern speaking with the Brotherhood squad about both their worlds. Alex told her about how the NCR defeated a fraction called Caesar's Legion at the second battle of Hover Dam. Of how afterwards they formed an alliance with the Brotherhood and tighter united all of America and north Mexico under their banner. He then told them about how they thought the Enclave destroyed after the Battles of Project Purity, Raven Rock and Adams Air Force Base thanks to a mysterious stranger called the Lone Wanderer who apparently came from Vault 101.

Alex seems just as interested in the witch's world. He's fascinated with the Striker Units and the Neuroi asking most of his questions about them. He seems eager to know who the Neuroi regenerate themselves and disappointed when Minna couldn't answer.

"Do you have any idea what the upcoming destruction is that the sprit mentioned?" Minna asks him after they told each other about their worlds.

"No I dare but it could involve the Enclave because they've tried to use a modified version of the F.E.V to kill people worldwide before and again during the battle of Project Purity to contaminate the local water supple" Alex says after he thinks about it for a few moments. "Or it could be the Outcast trying to take control of the Brotherhood again"

"Who is the Outcast?" Sakamoto asks. "And how will the Outcast taking control of the Brotherhood cause the destruction?"

"Well the Outcast is a group of deserters from the Brotherhood that defected from the Capital Wasteland Chapter who didn't like the fact that Elder Lyons wanted to help the local people instead of gathering technology" Alex tells them. "They are just as powerful as the Brotherhood now as more people joined them when we made the alliance with the NCR and they could have discovered some old super weapon or are planning on starting another war with the Brotherhood"

"Well from what little I know of the Enclave I think they could be behind it" Minna replies. "But I think we have enough information to know for sure"

"I agree, I've contacted my superiors and they ordered me and my squad to the Capital Wasteland once the NCR arrives and to drop off the drones head at one of our outposts on the way and the scouts will be waiting there with intelligent reports on recent Enclave and Outcast activities" Alex tells her. "You're more than welcome to join us"

"Ok we will" Minna tells him.

"Well I think I'll call it a night if you have no further questions" Alex says as he gets up. "Goodnight miss"

"Goodnight" Minna replies as she watches him and the rest of his squad leave.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

Shirley watches the Brotherhood leave and waits a few moments to make sure that they are out of ear shot before asking. "Do you think it's a good idea to go with them?"

"Yes we need to know more about what's going on here in order to find a way back to our world and we might find a way back if we stick with them" Minna replied.

"I agree with Minna and don't forget that Eila saw them in a vision and a sprit told her they could help us" Sakamoto adds.

"They seem friendly and haven't done anything to hurt us so I think we can trust them" Sanya quietly says.

"Yeah and the sprit said they can help us" Eila tells her.

"Well if you're sure I'll go tell the others" Shirley says as she turns and begins to leave.

"Wait Shirley don't you want to go?" Minna asks her stopping her in her track. She never really thought about whether she wanted to go or not and thinks for a moment before answering.

"I think we should go with them but I don't know if I trust them" Shirley says as she leaves the room and walks through the pouring rain, lighting and thunder towards the doctor's house where the rest of the witches are. As soon as she enters a very happy Lucchini jump into her arms and wraps her arms around Shirley's neck.

"Goods news Lynne's awake" Lucchini cheerfully says as she rubs her face in Shirley's chest.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

Lynne wakes up in a hard warm bed with the sound of rain hitting metal. Her vision is blurry and takes a few minutes to come into focused. As soon as she can see again she spots all of the witches but Yoshika in her room stood around her bed.

The worst comes to mind as she tries again to find her friend in the rom but fails to find her friend. Lynne's mind fills with thought of her being beaten and tortured at the hands of those men who took her. Lynne tries to sit up and get a better look around the room but her head starts spinning as soon as it leaves the pillow.

"Lynne it's good to see you awake you had us worried for a seconded" Minna says as she gently pushes Lynne back down on the bed.

"Where's Yoshika?" Lynne weakly asks. "Is Yoshika ok?"

"She's fine she's asleep in the other room" Minna tells her. "She's exhausted and collapsed not long after getting back"

"So how do you feel Lynne?" Shirley asks.

"A little dizzy but I'm fine" Lynne replies.

"That's good now Lynne we are going to be moving in a day or two" Minna says. "Do you think you'll be ok to be moved by then?"

"I think so but where are we going?" Lynne asks.

"To the Capital Wasteland" Minna tells her. "We found the Brotherhood of Steel and are going to be traveling with them"

**Information**

**The Fallout world where my story is set and some of the characters in will be made up at first but I will be moving into the Capital Wasteland and a characters from Fallout 3 will be present in later Chapters.**


	7. Leaving Town

Redcannon

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika awoke to the sun rising outside of her window lighting up her room. The swelling in her eye has gone down and she can now open it but her ankle still stings slightly but it isn't as painful as it was yesterday. Most of her bruises have disappeared and the deep cut on her check has stopped bleeding.

"Yoshika are you ok?" A familiar voice asks her. She turns round to see Lynne sitting next to her bed on a wooden chair identical to the one in her room. Lynne looks like she was never hurt thanks to Yoshika's healing magic.

"Yeah I'm ok" Yoshika answers as she sits up. "How about you, are you ok?"

"I'm fine thanks to you" Lynne says with a smile. "Oh I brought you breakfast"

"What is that?" Yoshika asks as Lynne hands her a plant with a slab of meat Yoshika has never seen before.

"It is Mole rat meat" Lynne answers. "It has apparently grown a lot because of radiation"

"It doesn't taste that bad" Yoshika says after taking a bite of it.

Lynne and Yoshika eat their Mole rat meat in silence. Yoshika was eating the meat no problem but Lynne was a little more hesitant. She poked the meat around her plate with her fork as if checking it was alive before she took her first bite but after her first bight she was able to eat it easily.

"Your right it doesn't taste that bad" Lynne says as she finishes eating.

"See I told you so" Yoshika says with a smile but Lynne doesn't return it she just looks down at her empty plate. "Lynne is something wrong?"

"No it's just that I'm… I'm sorry you got kidnaped and hurt because I wasn't watching your back when you healed those children" Lynne says and Yoshika spots a tear rolling down her check. "I'm so sorry Yoshika"

"Lynne that wasn't your fault they snuck up on us and nearly killed you Lynne so there's nothing for you to be sorry about" Yoshika tells her as she grabs hold of Lynne's hands and holds them between her own.

"Yes but I should have been looking out for them not…" Lynne started to say when Yoshika suddenly cut her off with a kiss on the lips. The kiss was short and sweet and when Yoshika pulled her lips away from Lynne's she wished she hadn't.

"Please don't be sad Lynne they almost killed you getting me" Yoshika tells her. "Lynne I thought we would never see each other again and that they killed you. I love you Lynne and I don't want to lose you or see you in pain because it hurts me just as much"

"Oh Yoshika I love you too" Lynne says as she gives Yoshika a tight hug. "It felt horrible when I woke up and didn't see you. I thought they killed you or you were still out there being hurt by them"

Their lips meet again almost as soon as Lynne finished talking. Yoshika wraps her arms around Lynne's neck. Their kiss becomes more and more passionate with each passing second. Never of them want to break apart but unfortunately someone's footsteps could be heard on the creaking floor board heading towards them. They both immediately break apart as never one is ready to tell the others about their mutual love for each other yet.

* * *

Dean Camron

Dean and Jayson were sat on top of a roof on the outskirts of town on the look for approaching threats and the NCR squad being sent here to protect the town. They sit there watching Nathan play with his niece in a field behind his brother's house. Fortunately Nathans brother and niece both survived the attack.

Dean watches Nathan chase around his niece wearing his power armour and pretending to be a monster. His nieces long blond hair flows freely behind her head as she runs and her blue dress looks beautiful on her small body.

"I never thought I'd see him like that" Dean commented to Jayson nodding towards Nathan.

"Yeah he may not look or sound it but he's actually a very kind and caring person" Jayson responds as he watches Nathan catch his niece and lifts her above his head making her giggle uncontrollably.

"You know I always thought he had a soft side to him" Dean says as he turns his attention back to the road. He watches the eye bot flying on patrol as it crosses the road.

"I don't know why we can't use that eye bot as a lookout instead of us standing up here on the roof" Jayson moans. "That things sensor could monitor the surrounding area a lot better than we can"

"Well I think Alex is keeping it out of town because the Enclave used eye bots and he's afraid that the locals will panic" Dean answers as he watches the eye bot disappear behind a building. "And we are probably up here for show to make the locals feel safe"

"Yeah your probable right" Jayson says as he lies down on the roof. "In that case we can take it easy"

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud and Erica were walking around the perimeter of the village on the lookout for raiders or any other threat. Gertrud takes extra care when walking through the field where Yoshika was taken from. She was hoping to find some tunnel or camouflaged position where those raiders could have hidden from her. Her search doesn't find any sign that the raiders where hiding anywhere near there.

"Come on Trude we have to patrol the whole village not just the crops" Erica says to Gertrud's surprise. Erica normally is the first to slack off and Gertrud felt for sure that she wouldn't say anything about her search for answers.

"While if we figure out how they snuck up on Yoshika and Lynne then we can help better protect this village" Gertrud replies as she finally finds what she's looking for. Under a thin layer of dirt is a wooden hatch that when Gertrud opens it reveals a tunnel leading away from the village. "See they needed to know about this tunnel"

Gertrud jumps down into the tunnel checking both directions for enemies. Nothing, not even the sound of someone in the distance can be heard from the tunnel. Only silence comes out of the darkness of the tunnel. The tunnel is a straight line in both directions and just tall and wide enough for someone to walk through.

"Hey Trude I don't think it's a good idea to go down there" Erica tells her as she leans over the entrance.

"I'm only taking a quick look" Gertrud replies as she pulls herself out of the tunnel. "We need to tell Minna about this"

"I think she's in the bar with Alex, Sakamoto and three villagers right now" Erica says as she points to the tavern. "I think she's starting to like Alex"

"Well he seems nice and he is willing to help us and these people" Gertrud says as she and Erica start to walk towards the tavern.

"No I think she likes him" Erica says emphasising the "like".

"Hartmann you know he's too old for her and that Minna and Sakamoto are a couple right and they are only trying to figure out what the upcoming disaster is right?" Gertrud says to her friend who just laughs in return.

"You know I'm only messing with you Trude" Erica says as she giggles. "You really think Minna would leave the Major that easily?"

* * *

Alex Franco

"I thought of something last night do you think the coming destruction could be the Neuroi coming to this world from yours" Alex says as he eats breakfast with Sam, Minna and Sakamoto. He's got to know most of the witches names apart from the two unconscious ones as all morning they have been walking up to him and introducing themselves. He still isn't sure he believes them when they say they can use magic but he does believe they are trust worthy and their lack of knowledge backs up their clam of being from another world.

The villagers have been giving the witches supplies all morning too. They now wear brown cotton trousers and black boots. They have been giving enough food and water for the trip to the Capital Wasteland. The girls were offered a place to live but turned them down. The villagers are extremely grateful of the withes. They freed them from the raiders that constantly attacked and terrified the village.

"I don't think we are going to be leaving till tomorrow unless the NCR get here soon" Alex tells them. "There are too many Night stalker packs on the road to try and make it through at night"

"Is the NCR always this slow to respond?" Sakamoto asks as she starts to get fed up with waiting.

"Only when General Lee Oliver is in command" Sam answers with a small smile on her face.

"I take it he's not a good General then" Sakamoto says with clear disgust in her voice.

"Well he's good when he's on the defensive but he's not so good on the offensive" Alex tells her. "He likes to sit and wait for the enemy to make the first move and I believe everyone under his command has even started calling him general "Wait and see" because of that"

"He'll only end up getting killed and his soldiers killed with that attitude" Sakamoto replied. She looked like she was going to say more but Minna grabs her arm and gives her a warning look making her hold her tongue.

"I don't think so" Alex says causing Sakamoto to stare at him demanding an explanation. "He seems to care about the lives of his soldiers more than his own and he isn't the type of man who will just throw lives away"

Sakamoto was about to say something but is interrupted by Gertrud and Erica bursting into the room and quickly making their way towards the table where Alex, Sam, Minna and Sakamoto are sat.

"We've found a tunnel in the crop field" Gertrud tells them as she reaches the table.

"Does it look like an animal dug it with claws because Mole rats are common in this area and they dig tunnels to live in and so they can ambush their prey?" Alex asks her as he and everyone else at the table turns towards Gertrud.

"I don't think so it had a camouflaged hatch for an entrance" Gertrud answers.

"I'll go check it out" Sakamoto says as she gets up. "Barkhorn, Hartmann come with me"

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

"Is this it?" Sakamoto asks as she reaches a wooden hatch covered with a dirty sheet.

"Yes" Gertrud replies with a nod. "I couldn't see anything down there when I looked"

"Ok we'll follower the tunnel leading out of town see where it goes" Sakamoto tells them as she jumps down into the tunnel. She checks both directions but like Gertrud she fails to spot anyone.

Sakamoto begins to walk down the tunnel, behind her she hears Gertrud and Erica jump down into the tunnel and follow her. The further they proceed the darker it gets. It quickly gets so dark that Sakamoto can't even see her hand in front of her face. It gets so quiet that the only sounds she can hear are heart beats and breathing. But at least there's light at the end of the tunnel to guide her.

The light gets closer and closer. The near they get to it the stronger the breeze they can feel blowing in through the light. The smell of pond lilies and the sound of frogs soon fill the tunnel as they reach its end.

When they reach the outside of the tunnel and walk through the light they find themselves on the banks of a small pond with several colourful fish swimming around. The water of the pond is so clear and looks cool and refreshing. There is nothing here but the pond, no sign of any raider being here recently, no sign of a campsite and no sign of anything other than the pond.

"I think they may have come from the other direction it doesn't look like anything's been through here recently" Sakamoto tell the two other witches as she turns round to face them. She wasn't prepared for the sight she saw. Erica has stripped down naked and was about to jump into the pond off of a rock on the ponds edge. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hartmann put your cloths back on right now we aren't here for fun!" Gertrud shouts as she notices what her friends doing. But they catch on to late and Erica dives into the water soaking them both with her splash and disappearing under the water.

"Fuck this waters cold!" Erica shouts as she resurfaces.

"We already know now get out of there!" Gertrud shouts back as she stands on the edge of the pond dripping wet thanks to Erica. Sakamoto's just as wet and the cold water has frozen her to the bone. She can't help but shiver and out of the corner of her eyes she can see Gertrud shiver too. She is amazed that Erica doesn't seem effected by the cold water even though she's swimming through it to the water's edge.

"I didn't think it would be that cold" Erica says as she pulls herself onto the ponds edge and finally she starts to shiver too.

"We're heading back to the village to dry off before we get sick" Sakamoto tells them. "We can tell the NCR about the tunnel and let them heck it out"

* * *

Sanya V. Litvyak

Sanya was with Eila sitting down in one of the caravans and watching the road for any sign of the NCR squad coming to protect the village. They've been watching the road for an hour now eating the mole rat breakfast in the caravan. It's surprising someone can live here in this windowless doorless metal box but someone obviously did. There was a small ingle bed which the two girls now sit on, two suitcases full of cloths and a box half-filled of tined food and bottled water. Just outside is a toppled over barbeque and a plastic chair which was snapped into several pieces.

"When do you think they'll get here?" Sanya asks Eila as she scans the horizon.

"I don't know but if they aren't here soon then we'll have to spend another night here" Eila replies. "I think Alex said it was because of some dangerous creature that appears on the road at night"

"It must be deadly if the Brotherhood people don't want to go" Sanya said as she started to imagine a giant monster walking towards her.

"It isn't dangerous as an individual but they are when they attack in a pack" Eila says trying to comfort Sanya as she noticing her friends fear.

"But those guys are tough and whatever those things are they must be scary to scare them" Lucchini says as she pops her head through the window making both Sanya and Eila jump.

"What do you think you are doing you nearly gave us a heart attack?" Eila shouts at her as she tries to calm herself down. Sanya is just as shaken up, more even. She was imagining a pack of monsters attacking her when Lucchini popped her head through the window and now she can't stop her hands from shaking.

"I came to tell you that the NCR are arriving and Minna said we should all gather in front of the bar and prepare to move out" Lucchini answers giggling. "I was also hopping to see some action from you two"

"Well there was nothing going on to begin with" Eila tells her going red with embarrassment while Sanya sits there blushing.

"Sure there wasn't" Lucchini teases before walking off making a loud kissing sound as she went.

* * *

Dean Camron

Dean was stood outside the bar with Jayson watching the NCR walk into the village. There were eight of them in total. They were all wearing brown uniforms with a chest plat on top with flag of the NCR printed on the front. Seven of the men wear helmets and the eight wear a beret clearly marking him out as the squad leader. Six of the men including the leader carry service rifle, one of them has a hunting rifle and the other is equipped with a light machine gun. There are two Brahmin walking with the NCR squad carrying supplies for the soldiers, manly camping equipment, food and water.

The NCR troopers all look tired and worn out from their journey. Their uniforms are covered in dirt and dust from their walk and judging by the condition of their weapons it looks like they need to be cleaned before they can be fired again.

"It looks like the roads going to be rough" Jayson comments as they walk past them.

"Yeah but I think you got your directions wrong" Dean says as he turns towards him. "They came from the west we are heading north"

"Well you can't expect me to remember every direction" Jayson replies as the both smirk.

"As long as you shoot in the right direction you'll do ok" Dean tells him and they both smile.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure I won't shoot you in the back any time soon" Jayson jokes as he shapes his hand into a gun before saying. "Bang" He moves his hand shaped like a gun to mimic the recoil as both of them let out a quick quiet laugh.

"Yeah I can count on you not to shoot me" Dean says as he turns back to look at the NCR squad. Alex is now talking with their squad leader. Dean looks back to Jayson. Ever since he joined the squad a few days ago he's felt closer to Jayson than anyone else in the squad. The others are friendly and kind but he has a lot more in common with Jayson. They both like to read about the old world and wanted to be scribes and both changed their minds to become paladins.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna was stood with the other witches and the Brotherhood squad as they wait for Alex and Sakamoto who's showing the NCR the tunnel Gertrud found earlier but thanks to Erica couldn't fully check it out. By the look of the sun it's somewhere between nine and ten in the morning but she can already tell that today's going to be hot. The heat of the sun has already making her sweat but thankfully it's not as hot as the heat back in Britannia. Finally after about twenty minutes Alex and Sakamoto return to the group and they set off to the Capital Wasteland.

As they leave the whole village comes out to see them off shouting out their goodbyes and thanking them once again for all they did to help them. The witches apart from, Sakamoto, Gertrud and Sanya all wave back to the villagers as they leave. The Brotherhood squad has put their helmets back on making it nearly imposable to tell them apart. They like Gertrud and Sakamoto also don't wave back but she can't tell if it's because they are shy like Sanya and not waving back because they are too shy to.

"Great two days of walking" Erica moans as soon as the villagers are out of ear shot.

"Toughen up Hartmann and start acting more like a soldier of Karlsland" Gertrud tells her as she gives her shoulder a light push.

"Cheer up Hartmann I'm sure that Yoshika will cook us a delicious meal when we get there" Shirley says loud enough for Yoshika to hear. "You'll do that right Yoshika"

"Yeah sure I will" Yoshika cheerfully replies.

"So what's the plan when we get to the Capital Wasteland?" Sakamoto asks as she sidesteps closer to Minna.

"Find out what the coming destruction is and how it's linked to us being her" Minna answers as laughter erupts from the other girls. "The sooner we find out how we are linked with it the sooner we can find a way home"


	8. The Valley

Valley Floor

Francesca Lucchini

They have been walking for hours without a break. Alex the leader of the Brotherhood squad seems determined to make it out of the area before nightfall. He keeps saying this valley is too dangerous to be in at night. He keeps saying that packs of Night stalkers swarm this valley at night.

Looking around Lucchini can't possible he why he's so scared of this place. The valley is flat open ground with a huge mountain on ever side of the valley channeling the group down a single straight path. You can see for miles when looking forward and behind making it impossible for anyone to sneak up on them.

"How are you doing?" Shirley asks.

"I'm doing fine" Lucchini answered as she looks up at Shirley.

"Well if you get tied let me know and I'll give you a piggy back" Shirley offers as she gives the top of Lucchini's head a quick gentle rub. "I don't think they'll let us rest until we are through this valley"

"Yeah but I thought we would of seen one of those Night stalkers by now" Lucchini says sounding almost disappointed that they haven't seen the monsters Alex mentioned roam this valley.

"Well it's probably because they are hiding in caves on the mounting" Shirley answers as she scans the mountings ever side of the valley. "Alex did say they are nocturnal"

* * *

Perrine H. Clostermann

Perrine was on point with Nathan as they move through the valley. The terrain of the valley makes it an easy job to do as there is nowhere for anyone to hide in the flat valley. Nathan doesn't seem to care and is whistling some tune as he walks.

The sun indicates that it's early evening and that they only have an hour or two before it sets beyond the horizon. The heat of the day is starting to fade as the cold night air begins to blow in. the full moon can be seen in the clear blue sky along with several stars.

"This isn't good" Nathan moans as he watches the light start to fade. "We need to get a move on or the Night stalkers will swarm us"

Something in his voice makes Perrine shiver. He's scared and Perrine can almost feel the fear growing in his body. She doesn't think Nathans a coward so these Night stalkers must really be something if he is that scared.

"Don't worry I'm sure will be fine" Perrine calmly tells him even though she is practically shaking herself.

"I hope so" Nathan replies in a shaky voice. "Those beasts are really dangerous"

"Don't think about them" Perrine says. "Only concentrate on moving forward and you'll be fine"

"We need to run for it if we are going to make it through before nightfall" Alex says as he runs up to them with everyone else running behind him.

Gertrud is carrying Yoshika on her back as her foot hasn't healed enough for her to run. She can walk fine at a slow pass but now that they need to move fast she can't keep up so Gertrud just literally throw her on her back. Lucchini is riding on Shirley's back as her short legs can't keep up with everyone else.

They all run as fast as they can to beat the approaching darkness. Every step there take brings them closer to safety but the darkness is creeping in a lot quicker than they can run and it soon consumes them. The darkness is so dark that it's nearly impossible to see anything. Perrine turns to Nathan and all she can see of him are his green glowing eyes on his helmet.

"Why are your eyes glowing green?" Perrine asks in shock of his glowing eyes.

"My helmet has built in night vision and when you are close up to me my eyes look like they are glowing" Nathan tells her as he looks to the mounting.

Perrine follows his eyes and when she sees what he has she wishes she hadn't of looked. On the mounting are lines of red eyes looking at the group. There must be hundreds of red eyes up there staring back at her. She turns round to the other hill and sees the same thing there.

The red eyes must belong to the Night stalkers. Perrine expected that they will run into them on this journey but never this quick, never this many of them and she never thought it would be this dark when she did.

The front lines of the Night stalkers begin to charge down at them. They move in an eerily quiet line towards the group. They do not howl or grow as they charge like Perrine imagined they would. Instead all she can hear is the breathing of everyone in the group and the rumble of feet as the Night stalker pack closes in on them.

* * *

Erica Hartmann

Erica points her Hunting rifle at the nearest set of red eyes aiming in-between them as they charged towards her. She hates the situation she's in. she can't see her target. She can't even see the end of her rifle as she aims it towards the red eyes. All she can do is point her rifle in the general direction of the red eyes and hopes that she hits hit when she fires.

She pulls the trigger as the red eyed beast gets so close that she could her it breathing over the sound of its feet. Her shot rings out in the darkness and the red eyes fall to the ground and the breathing sound stops.

As Erica pulls back the blot on her rifle to chamber another round she hears more shots fired from the other witches and the wines and whimpers of the Night stalker not lucky enough to be killed by the gun fire.

The red eyed beast start to retreat as everyone opens fire. Someone fires a flare into the air and for the first time Erica can see the res eyed Night stalkers. They are nothing like Erica has seen before. They have the head of a snake with dog ears and body and their tails look just like a rattle snake tail.

"Using the light from the flare Erica looks around to see how everyone else is doing. Everyone is aiming their guns at the Night stalkers on the mounting. Yoshika is the only one not holding a gun as she sits down in the middle of the group with Lynne standing next to her guarding her from harm.

"Erica, watch the Night stalkers on the mounting Yoshika and Lynne are watching our backs so pay attention to the enemy" Gertrud says as she takes up position next to Erica and the Night stalkers let out a deafening howl.

"How many do you think there are?" Erica shouts over the howling.

"No idea but their attacking again!" Gertrud shouts back as another line of Night stalkers advance at them.

Erica takes aim at the closes one and fires. Her bullet hits its mark. The Night stalker lets out a slight whimper as it falls but it soon lies still on the ground and its red eyes fade into blackness. She pulls back the bolt and takes aim again. This time she hits a Night stalker as it enters the light from the flare blowing its brains out onto the valley floor.

The Night stalkers are charging a lot faster at them now. They sprint towards them jumping over their dead. They are proving to be hard targets to hit as they start to zigzag their way forward dodging several bullets and lasers fired their way.

"Shit I can't hit them!" Erica shouts out in frustration as she empties her magazine without hitting anything.

"Calm down and focus" Gertrud as she shoots a Night stalker through the side killing it instantly.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

Shirley is firing round after round into the advancing Night stalkers but barley hitting anything. The Night stalkers seem to be trying to get her to waste her ammo as they charge in and move back just as she fires causing her bullet hit the dirt harmlessly in front of her intended target.

Lucchini is cowering behind Shirley shaking like a leaf. As soon as the flare went up and she saw the hideous reptilian dogs she dropped her rifle and hid behind Shirley wrapping her hands around her waist.

The Night stalks carry on their attack and soon Shirley hears the click that signals her magazines empty. The Night stalkers don't miss the opening as Shirley reloads and four of them charge full speed right at her. Lucchini screams as the Night stalkers close in letting go of Shirley and fall to the ground.

Shirley only just manages to reload a fire a single shot hitting one of the Night stalkers in the head before the others reach her. She uses her rifle as a club hitting a Night stalker away as it jumps at her but another Night stalker jumps at her knocking her rifle out of her hands. The fourth Night stalker charges her as soon as she's been disarmed. Shirley grabs the closes thing to her a large rock and as the Night stalker jumps at her she slams the rock down on its skull as hard as she can. The sound of its skull shattering under the rock echo's through the valley as the Night stalker falls dead at her feet. The two remaining Night stalkers take up position on opposite sides of her and charge at her.

The Night stalker to her rear falls as Nathan fires a burst of lasers into its body. Shirley turns just in time to the other Night stalker fall with two gunshot wounds through its head thanks to Lynne and Minna. The Night stalkers retreat again allowing everyone a chance to reload their weapons and catch their breaths.

Shirley uses this opportunity to go check on Lucchini. She walks over to Lucchini and kneels down beside her. The young witch immediately wraps her arms around Shirley's neck and pulls her down for a tight hug. Shirley can feel how scared Lucchini is as she hugs her back. Lucchini is shaking with fear and trying desperately not to cry. Shirley can feel the rapid beat of Lucchini's heart bouncing so hard in her little chest that it might burst out at any minute.

"Francesca its ok we're beating them back" Shirley tells her as calmly as she can as she brushes a hand through Lucchini's long black hair.

"I know but it's just… it's just that… their so scary" Lucchini says as she sobs into Shirley's shoulder. "I… I never thought… thought they would be like that"

"I know no one did now try to calm down" Shirley says as she breaks away from the hug and looks Lucchini in the eye. "Don't worry I'll protect you"

"I know you will" Lucchini quietly whispers as she tries to control her sobs.

"How about you go help Lynne and Yoshika watch our back" Shirley suggested.

Lucchini nods in response as the two of them get up. Shirley watches Lucchini grab her rifle and walk over to where Lynne and Yoshika are. As soon as she sees Lucchini reach the two witches Shirley turns back and collects her rifle from where it fell.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

"Lucchini are you ok?" Yoshika asks her as she approaches Yoshika and Lynne.

"Yeah I'm fine those things just scare me" Lucchini replies. Lynne can tell from looking into the young witch's eyes that she's been crying.

"Don't worry the others won't let them get to you" Lynne says trying to calm Lucchini's nerves even though she's scared of those beasts as Lucchini is. "As long as we watch their backs we'll make it through the night"

"Right I'll…" Lucchini starts to say but she's interrupted by gun fire. Lynne looks up and see's the red eyes of the Night stalkers advancing down the mounting towards them at an astonishing pace.

Lynne watches the red yes charge towards her but several of the red eyes fall to the ground and go out brought down by gun fire before they reach the group. This attack is much larger than the other. Before it was only twenty or thirty at a time but now they are at least a hundred of them charging.

Lynne aims her rifle at into the sea of red eyes charging her way. She aims at the first Night stalker to enter the flare light. She hits the Night stalker between the eyes covering the beasts back with its own brains.

She doesn't have to wait long for her seconded target as another Night stalker runs into the light behind the fallen beast. Lynne quickly puts a bullet through its neck as the beast jumps over the corpse of Lynne's previous kill. The Night stalker drops to the ground and dies lying in a pool of its own blood.

The Night stalkers are attacking more recklessly this time trying to overwhelm the group with their numbers. Now instead of trying to dodge or evade the incoming shots the Night stalkers charge straight into them. Pretty soon the bodies start to pile up all around the group as the Night stalkers continue their unrelenting attack.

The purpose of this mass attack becomes apparent as calls of low ammo start to echo through the valley. To make things worse the flare begins to flicker signalling that it's about to go out at any minute.

Lynne watches Minna fire at two advancing Night stalkers bringing both of them down with shots to the head. But then out of the darkness a Night stalker charges her from behind. Minna notices too and she starts to turn round but it becomes clear that she won't be able to turn round in time. Lynne aims her rifle at the Night stalker and fires just as it leaps at Minna hoping her bullet will hit the beast before its fangs dig into Minna's flesh. Her bullet makes it on time hitting its target in the eye. The Night stalkers dead body fly's into Minna knocking her to the ground and her rifle out of her hand.

A Night stalker seeing the situation Minna's in charges at her as she frees herself from under the dead Night stalker. Lynne lines up her shot and fires a bullet into the Night stalkers open mouth. The beast falls to the ground spraying out blood from its mouth.

* * *

Dean Camron

The Night stalkers stop their attack and retreat just as the flare flickers out. Piles of Night stalker corpses surround the group. Deans eyes look up to the mounting and sees the lines of glowing red eyes still staring at them, plotting their next move.

"Everyone, check your ammo" Alex orders taking advantage of the break in the fighting. The situation isn't good. Most of the witches have only two or three magazines of ammo left. Alex only as ten shots left for his weapon, Jayson and Sam have only two microfusion cells left and Nathan has just loaded his last electron charge pack. Dean himself has only two microfusion cells left and the one in his laser rifle has about half a charge left. "Shit we don't have enough ammo to stay here we are going to have to make a run for the outpost"

"How far is it?" Minna asks as Alex shoots off another flare.

"About twenty minutes away if we're quick" Alex replies as the flare goes off to light the way for the witches. Dean watches Gertrud pick up Yoshika and Lucchini jump onto Shirley's back as the group starts to run. "The eye bot will cover us so just keep moving"

The eye bot descends from the sky and when Dean looks at it closely he sees a small metal tube slide out of the front of it. The eye bot fly's behind the group as they run watching out for any sign of danger.

The eye bot doesn't have to wait long for its chance to fire. A lone Night stalker appears in front of the group and charges right at them. A small ball of plasma fired from the eye bot hits the Night stalker in the face turning it to ash as it falls to the ground.

"That thing not a bad shot" Nathan says as he runs through the ash scattering the ash in every direction.

"Why didn't you use that thing earlier?" Sakamoto asks Alex as she runs up next to him.

"It only can fire twenty-four shots before it has to land to be reloaded" Alex answers as the eye bot fires two more shots at Night stalkers chasing after the group.

* * *

Ruins of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing Base Britannia

Hanna-Justina Marseille

Hanna is stood in a crowd of witches in the ruins of the former base of the 501st. It has been three weeks since the Neuroi launched their offensive all across the south coast of Britannia and the enter 501st perished.

Several witches have gathered here along with the friends and family of the 501st and other base personal for their funeral. In all there are about two hundred people here to moan their lost loved ones.

Air Chief Marshal Maloney is giving a speech honouring the 501st and their victory's making Hanna feel sick t her stomach. Hanna knows he doesn't mean a single word he says about them. She knows for a fact that Maloney hates witches and he hated the 501st more the most because of their constant victories against the Neuroi. It wouldn't surprise her if he was glad the 501st was dead.

The funeral comes to an end with a line of Britannian soldiers firing their rifles in the air as the families of the fallen receive their folded country flags. Hanna is sad to see Ursula receive a folded Karlsland flag for her sister. A sister that destroyed more Neuroi than anyone else and all her sister gets is a folded flag to remember her.

"That Maloney is a lying son of a bitch" The witch to Hanna's right whispers so Maloney doesn't hear her. Hanna looks to her and can tell by the look in her eyes that she has a burning hatred for the Air Chief. The witch who said it looks like she's sixteen and is wearing a Britannian military uniform and has sort blond hair. "I was stationed at the same base as him and I heard him celebrate the news that the 501st died and I saw how reluctant he was to show up here"

"I know his hatred for the 501st is famous worldwide" Hanna whispers back. "Ever since they destroyed his precious little Warlock"

"Yeah he took out his frustration on me and my squad after that" The girl tells her. "He made us to all the cleaning around the base and had his men beat and insult us when we were cleaning. His men always made the point in messing up the area we just cleaned and make us clean it again"

"That bastard, why didn't you stand up to him?" Hanna asks her but the girl remains silent and stared at the floor.

"Our squad leader did and Maloney had his men beat her half to death" The girl says hugging herself as she relives the event in her head. "He then tied her to a flag pole for the rest of the day and wouldn't allow anyone to treat her wounds"

"That is horrible" Hanna says as she walks of. She's heading towards the ruined building she saw Maloney enter after he gave his fake speech. She's determined to make him pay for what he did and when she finds him she's going to make him regret everything he ever did to bring harm to a witch.

Hanna enters the ruined building and finds Maloney dead lying on his stomach with his head twist round facing the sky through the holes in the roof. His guards also lay dead on the ground with their blood coating the walls and their guts covering the floor.

* * *

Brotherhood Outpost

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

They made it to the Outpost after nearly half an hour of running. The Night stalkers left them alone after the first ten minutes. That eye bot thing really scared them off as it scored a direct head shot on every Night stalker that got to close and pretty soon the rest of the pack got the message that they will not be getting an easy meal and gave up.

The Outpost is nothing special. It's only four tents surrounded by a wooden wall with a watch tower in each corner. There are only twelve people here, all from the Brotherhood of Steel and by the time the group arrived all but four was asleep.

On ever side of the gate to the Outpost are these strange unmanned guns similar to what the witches faced at the entrance to the warehouse. Alex said they a called sentry guns and as long as we don't pose a threat to the Outpost they will leave everyone alone and won't try and kill anyone.

They have been at the Outpost for nearly an hour and are planning on spending the night here and moving out at dawn. Alex said that if they are lucky than they will make it to the outskirts of the Capital Wasteland by midday and reach the Brotherhoods Headquarters in the Capital Wasteland by sunset. The Brotherhood offered the witches a tent for the night but Gertrud chose to sleep out in the open looking up at the star filled sky.

She lays there under the sky thinking of home. Thinking of how she used to lay in the hills outside of her home town with Chris and tell her about the different star constellations. But when her thoughts turn to her sister Chirs she has to fight the tears forming in her eyes. Chris the thought of never seeing her again and leaving her alone at the mercy of the Neuroi makes her heart hurt and eyes water.

"Are you alright Trude?" A voice calls out to her. Gertrud wipes the tears from her eyes before she turns to find Minna standing over her.

"I'm fine Minna you don't have to worry about me" Gertrud replies as she stands up. Minna looks at Gertrud's face and Gertrud must have missed a tear or Minna can read her mind because Minna says.

"Don't worry, you'll see Chris again and we'll all make it back home alive"

"Yes but what if the Neuroi attack and break through the coastal defences" Gertrud says as she finally breaks down and the worry for her sister takes her over. "They could attack the hospital and kill her while I'm stuck here unable to protect her"

"It's ok Trude" Minna gently tells her as she gives Gertrud a hug. "We'll make it back and you'll be reunited with Chris and see that she's fine"

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila and the other witches are in the tent the Brotherhood gave them for the night eating dinner and quietly talking so they won't wake up the sleeping Brotherhood members in the next tent. Eila is sat on her sleeping bag also given to her for the night eating some meat called Brahmin. It tastes similar to beef and apparently Brahmin used to be cows until the radiation turned them into the two headed creatures they are today. At least that's what the person who gave them the meat said. He also gave them a bottle of water with their meat.

The tent is poorly lit by a small candle, six sleep bags line the tent ever side leaving only a thin gap in the middle to walk through. Inside the tent there is barely enough room to stand and with the witches inside the tent becomes crowed leaving very little space to move around inside. There's a slight cool breeze blowing in through the entrance to the tent. The breeze is just perfect as the crowed tent is starting to get hot from everyone's body heat.

"Do you guy's think we'll make it back home?" Lucchini asks in a weak nervous voice almost like she's afraid of the answer.

"Don't worry we'll be back home in no time just you wait and see" Shirley answer as she hugs Lucchini from behind.

"Yeah she's right we'll be back home by the end of the week at the latest" Erica tells her.

"We'll make it back Lucchini" Yoshika says cheerfully as Sanya's head falls onto Eila's shoulder.

"Sanya" Eila says as Sanya lifts her head back up off Eila's shoulder. Eila looks at Sanya and sees her friends face and can tell Sanya's exhausted and struggling to stay awake. "Sanya you can go to sleep if you're tied"

"Ok" Sanya replies as she lies down on top of the sleeping bag she was sat on. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Eila replies but too late as Sanya's already fast asleep.

* * *

Alex Franco

Alex was waiting for the Outpost commander to finish his radio call to HQ. He's waiting in the Command tent. The tent is pretty much empty with only a desk with radio on top and a map of the local area.

"I've just informed HQ that the drones head has been delivered" The Outpost commander tells him as he returns from making a radio call. "A squad will be here in a day or two to take it back to Fort Excel"

"Good the sooner that thing is back at Excel the better" Alex replies feeling glad that he doesn't have to carry the drone head around anymore.

"Yeah I'm sure that thing is filled with all kinds of secrets" The Commander says.

"Yeah maybe well be able to make our own or it will be the key to destroy the Enclave and bring peace to the Wasteland" Alex says back.

"Yeah maybe" The commander replies. "By the way who are those girls and why are you traveling with them?"

"It's a long story but in short they are going to be a big help with an upcoming mission" Alex lies to him knowing that he'll never believe the truth. "It's classified so I can't tell you more than that"

"Ok but if you are heading to along the highway to the Capital Wasteland watch out as Bandits have been attacking traders and patrols along the highway" The Commander warns as he moves his hand along the highway on the map on the table.

"I'll be on guard thanks for the warning" Alex responds as he turns to leave. "I'm going to turn in now goodnight"

"Goodnight" The Commander says as he watches Alex leave. Outside the tent the air is slightly colder than in the tent but thankfully not freezing cold as he and his squad are sleeping out in the open under the stars tonight.

* * *

Ruins of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing Base Britannia

Hanna-Justina Marseille

Hanna just stands there staring at the dead bodies. The witch from earlier enter the room behind her probably to stop her from killing Maloney after she told him of what he did to her squad. The sight of the Maloney and his guard's gory end stops her in her tracks and she stands there motionless and silent like Hanna.

"What happened here?" The witch asks as she stares into the blood mess of a guard's body. "You didn't do this did you?"

"No… No of course not" Hanna replies but the witch still takes a step back from her like she thinks Hanna will attack at any time. "Just look at me I don't have a single drop of blood on me and you entered a few seconds after me so I didn't have enough time to do this"

"You must have there…" The witch started to say but is cut of when a red arm punches through her chest. The arm is dripping with blood and in its hand is the still beating heart of the witch. The witch is dead and if not for the arm her body would be on the floor. After a few seconds the arm pulls itself back through the witch's body dropping her heart on the ground in front of her body.

Stepping out from behind the witch's body as it falls to the ground is a human shape Neuroi with glowing red eyes. The Neuroi walks toward Hanna just like a human would walk with fresh blood dripping from its arm. As it walks toward Hanna it opens up its chest revealing a multi coloured crystal that's spinning round at an incredibly speed. That's the last thing she sees before blacking out in a blinding light.


	9. The Highway

The Outpost

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Everyone was waiting near the entrance of the Outpost for gates to open. The morning fog made it hard to see anything more than five meters away and the wind this morning was blowing a gale. The morning was already cold enough as it is but the wind is making it much worse.

Finally the gates open and Minna takes the lead alongside Alex as they walk out of the Outpost. The morning is so quiet. Minna can't believe that the world could ever be this quiet. The only sounds that could be heard are footsteps and breathing of the group as they walk. It's eerie how quiet it is. Minna's used o waking up to birds and waves filling her room with sound but none of that have happened this morning.

"Are you alright Minna?" Sakamoto asks her as she walks up beside her. "You seem kind of down this morning"

Minna was feeling down. Her talk with Gertrud last night really made her homesick. She misses her room in Britannia and she misses her friends she left behind. But she doesn't want anyone to worry about her so she just says.

"I just miss waking up to the sound of the sea"

"It's ok if you're homesick" Sakamoto replies as though she read Minna's mind. "We all miss home but getting depressed won't help us get back"

"I know and I won't let it get me depressed" Minna tells Sakamoto and gives her an encouraging smile.

"Well I'm here for you if you need to talk" Sakamoto says returning her smile.

"Thanks Mio" Minna replied as they carried on into the fog towards the Capital Wasteland.

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika was walking along at a slow pace. Her ankle has healed a lot since Gertrud rescued her but it still sends a mild pain through her body whenever she puts wait on it. Gertrud's offered to carry her if it becomes to painful but right now Yoshika thinks she can handle walking on it.

Lynne's walking along side Yoshika. The two have been inseparable since they both confessed their love for each other. They still haven't told the others about that but they want to tell them. They just haven't found the right time and are too afraid of how the others will react to the news.

"Is your ankle ok Yoshika?" Lynne asks as she notices Yoshika's limp.

"Yeah it only stings a little now" Yoshika replies with a fake smile trying to convince Lynne she's fine and her ankle doesn't hurt as much as it does.

"It's ok to say you're in pain Yoshika" Lynne tells her seeing through her lie and fake smile as she puts her hand on Yoshika's shoulder. "If your ankle hurts you tell me so I can help you"

"While it stings a bit whenever I put weight on it" Yoshika admits to Lynne now realizing her friend knows her too well to be fooled by her lies.

"Ok then I can help you with that" Lynne says as she puts her shoulder under Yoshika's arm and helps take the weight of her bad ankle. "How's that, better?"

Yoshika takes a few steps with Lynne's help testing her ankle and finding that the pain is hardly noticeable now.

"Yeah I can hardly feel it now" Yoshika responds with a real smile. "Thanks Lynne"

"Don't mention it I'm sure you would of done the same for me" Lynne replies as they walk onwards.

* * *

Unknown

Hanna-Justina Marseille

Hanna awoke into a dark room light only by a flickering light above her. She was lead in a mattress wearing nothing but her underwear. She found the rest of her cloths neatly folded by her bed. The room she was in seemed to be an old bathroom because as she sits up she notices the toilet and sink. The room was windowless and the only way in or out of the room was a large wooden door that was falling apart and already had several holes through it letting rays of sunlight in.

Hanna quickly and quietly got out of bed and dressed. She then tiptoed her way to the door and peeked through one of the holes. She couldn't see much of the outside world other than a crumbling wall opposite her and that part of the roof outside her room was missing leaving large piles of stone scattered around outside her room. She presses her ear to the door but can't hear anything. She decides it's safe to leave the room so she slowly turns the handle and opens the door.

Once out of her room she finds herself on the bottom floor and she quickly spotted a gate leading out of this place and it was left unguarded. But as she approached the gate something behind her catches her attention and she spins round to see a man walking down the stairs towards her. The man instantly sees her and smiles as he approaches.

He has dark skin, black thick hair in a small afro and a thick beard. He's wearing some kind of green armour. On his belt hang a revolver and slung over his shoulder is some kind of gun that looks similar to the STG-44 that the Karlsland army are just starting to use.

"Your finally awake I see" The man says as he walks up to her.

"Where am I? And who are you?" Hanna demands as she backs up and gets ready for a fight.

"I'm Hannibal Hamlin and you're in the Temple of the Union" Hannibal tells her as he extends his arm. "Would you be so kind as to tell me who you are?"

"I'm Hanna, Hanna-Justina Marseille" Hanna answers but she doesn't shake his arm and stays back ready to fight.

"Are you feeling alright Hanna?" He asks her as he moves his arm back to his side. "You were unconscious when we found you"

"Yeah I'm fine thank you but I need to get going" Hanna says as she begins to slowly back up towards the gate.

"It's not safe out there if you want to leave" Hannibal tells her. "Slavers surrounded this place not long after we brought you here and will most likely try to catcher or kill you if you try to leave"

"I'm sure…" Hanna began to say but is interrupted by Hannibal tackling her to the ground as a hail of bullets shoot through the gate. Hanna can't believe how fast he moved just then. She only took her eyes off him for a second and in that time he closed the distance between them and tackled her to safety.

He quickly gets to his feet and takes aim with his weapon from his back. He fires several short burst back at the people shooting through the gate. Hanna gets up and takes Hannibal's revolver. She takes up position looking through a hole in the wall looking for a target. All she can see is muzzle flashes as the shooters are firing from concealed positions. But those flashes are enough for Hanna to take aim at. She fires all six bullets in the revolver at the nearest muzzle flash and is rewarded by a rifle rolling down the hill from where the flashes were coming from. The shooting sops after that and Hannibal turns to her.

"Nice shooting but can I have that back now" Hannibal says as he gives her another smile while reloading his weapon.

"I'll give it back later and can I have some more ammo for it" Hanna asks as she opens up the revolver and lets the spent cartridges fall to the ground. "You can't expect me to sit here defenceless do you?"

"Fine here you go" Hannibal says as he hands her twelve more bullets. "Sorry that's all I have for it"

"It's better than nothing" Hanna replies as she reloads.

"Follow me upstairs it's safer there" Hannibal says as he moves towards the stairs. Hanna follows right on his heels.

Upstairs is a small area with firing positions prepared and several guns ready to fire. Four other people and a dog are up there is well watching out for the slavers in case they attack again. Two are women armed one wearing a tunic and her black hair wrapped up is armed with the same gun as Hannibal. The other woman looks Asian and has short brown hair and is wearing the same armour as Hannibal. She is armed with another weapon Hanna has never seen before but it looks like the PPSh-41 submachine gun that the Orassian army use only the one she is using has a larger drum magazine.

One of the men is covered in dirt. He is wearing biker googles and some form of leather armour. On his back is a sledge hammer. The other man is a lot older than everyone else; he has grey hair under a hat and stubble. He wears a tunic and is holding the same weapon as Hannibal in is hands.

As Hannibal and Hanna reach the top of the stairs a grey and black dog runs up to Hannibal and starts jumping up on him. Hannibal instantly kneels down and starts stroking the dog while the other people walk over.

"Everyone this is Hanna" Hannibal says as he nods to Hanna. "That guy with the sledge hammer is Caleb Smith, the old man is Bill Seward, The lady with the shotgun is Simone Cameron, to her left is Alejandra Torres and this here is Four Score"

"Nice to meet you" Hanna says with a nod.

"Alright everyone rearm and get back on watch" Hannibal orders as he gives Four Score on last pat on the head and gets up.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Hanna asks now that she has Hannibal's attention again. "Why are those people attacking you?"

"Because we are escaped slaves and those slavers have come to ever take us back or kill us" Hannibal answers. "Unfortunately they will be after you too because you're in here with us"

"Don't worry about me I can handle myself in a fight" Hanna replies confidently.

* * *

The Highway

Dean Camron

The morning fog starts to fade away as the group set foot on the highway. It's a long straight road built hundreds of years ago that extends all the way to the Capital Wasteland. This highway makes it a lot easier to find and travel to the Capital Wasteland making the road very popular with traveling traders but unfortunately that also makes it popular with raiders and bandits.

The smooth black surface extends as far as the eye can see. The remnants of buildings line the side of the road. Only their walls remain with the roof piled up inside. The area surrounding the road is flat scorched earth with dead trees scattered across it and bomb craters filled with shallow pools of water forming in the bottom of them.

"Thank god for these roads" Jayson says. "It makes it so much easier to get around"

"Yeah but it also makes it easier to walk into an ambush" Dean replies as he looks around at all the potential hiding places. "Raiders know where you'll walk if you follow roads"

"Well we'll deal with them when we find them" Nathan tells them. "That's if their foolish enough to attack me"

"Attacking you will do the Wasteland a favour" Jayson mockingly says as he lightly pushes Nathans shoulder. "One less trigger happy moron in the world sounds nice"

"Yeah but one less joker sounds better" Nathan counters as he pushes Jayson back.

* * *

Erica Hartmann

They keep walking along the road for over an hour without a break. The day is starting to warm up as the sun rises. The sky once filled with clouds is now clear blue without a cloud in sight.

"Can you carry me Trude I'm tired" Erica moans as she slumps against her friends back.

"No now get of me" Gertrud replies as she shakes Erica off her back.

"Come on you offered to carry Yoshika" Erica as she leans against Gertrud's back again.

"That's because she was hurt now get off me" Gertrud orders as she shakes Erica off her for the second time.

"Not because she looks like Chris then" Erica teases as she hugs Gertrud from behind.

"No, that's not why and I already told you to get off of me" Gertrud replies as Erica's teasing starts to get to her and once again throws Erica off her back.

Erica watches as her friend storms off towards the front of the group. A slight smile grows on her face at her latest achievement. That's the quickest she's been able to make Gertrud storm off embarrassed and all she had to do was compare Yoshika to Chris.

"You shouldn't be too hard on her right now" Minna says as she walks up to Erica's side. "She's afraid she'll never see Chris again so can you not bring her up right now"

"Really oh shit sorry I didn't know" Erica replies wiping the smile off of her face as she realises that Gertrud wasn't embarrassed when she stormed off but upset.

"It isn't me you need to apologize too" Minna tells her nodding towards Gertrud.

Erica nods back at Minna before she walks over to Gertrud. Gertrud has moved to the front of the group and has her fists clenched at her sides. She really is upset. Ever since she met Gertrud she's always chose to bottle up her emotions instead of expressing them. Erica could always tell whenever Gertrud was upset or angry because she'd always clench her fists up like she is now.

"I'm sorry Trude" Erica says after taking a deep breath. She was terrified that her friend might harm her. Gertrud was normally very calm and would never hurt Erica but whenever something bad involving her sister Gertrud could be unpredictable. The Neuroi that put her sister into a coma learned that the hard way. Gertrud beat that thing to death with her bare hands. "I didn't mean to upset you I just wanted to have a laugh"

"It's ok I know you weren't being mean" Gertrud replies without even looking at Erica.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

By midday they reach the Capital Wasteland. The sight of it in the distance shocks all the witches. It is an entire city in ruins. Every building is destroyed, burnt or falling down in some way and smoke rises from parts of the ruined city. But something seems familiar to Shirley about this city. Something makes her think she's been her before. Then it hits her. She spots the tall white Washington Monument and she knows exactly what's she's looking at and why this place feels so familiar. She's looking into the ruins of Washington D.C.

"That's Washington D.C!" Shirley blurts out as soon as she realizes before she turns to Alex and asks. "What happened to it?"

All of the witches turn to her and Alex as soon as the heard Shirley shouts. Some of them give Shirley a sympathetic looks but other look at her clueless not quiet understanding what she's on about.

"While like I said everyone launched nukes at each other and Washington was one of the many places hit by a nuke" Alex tells her his expression unreadable through his helmet but he sounds like the sight of the ruins upsets him.

"How could one bomb do this?" Minna asks and the look on her face clearly shows her fear of the bomb.

"Nukes are extremely powerful bombs and just one of them is enough to destroy a city and leave it in ruins" Alex answers her shaking his head. "I still can't believe how much destruction they can cause ever even though I lived in the ruins my entire life"

Everyone just stands there in silence as they look out across the ruins of the Capital Wasteland. It takes a while for the news to sink in for Shirley. In her world only the Neuroi could spread destruction on such a large scale but here humans could and they nearly drove themselves to extinction.

"We need to get moving if we want to make it to HQ before nightfall" Alex finally says before the silent staring went on for too long.

* * *

Temple of the Union

Hanna-Justina Marseille

Hanna has been sat next a window on the second floor of the temple for hours randomly looking out of it for slavers. They haven't made a move since Hanna arrived but judging by the branches breaking underfoot she can hear they are defiantly up to something.

And she's right. Just as she's about to look out of the window a burst of gunfire enters the window nearly taking her head off. She reacts immediately by drawing the revolver Hannibal gave her. She kneels in front of the window and takes aim. She aims at the slaver shooting at her with some kind of automatic weapon. He's hiding in the ruins of a building across the street. She fires placing a bullet in his fore head scattering his brains on the ground behind him.

She doesn't have time to find another target as several other slavers open up on her pinning her down. She uses this time to see how everyone else is doing. Hannibal and Bill are both pinned down like her but Hannibal is quick enough to fire off a few shots whenever there's a break in the firing. Simone is taking fire but she's still able to return fire. She can't see the other two or the dog as they went down stairs to protect the gate. All she can do is hope they are alright.

Hanna finally catches a break as the firing on her stops. She quickly looks for a target and finds two slavers moving between cover. She takes aim at the nearest target and fires hitting an old man in-between the eyes causing him to nearly do a backflip as he falls to the ground dead. She aims at her second target. This time it's a girl about her own age. But that doesn't stop Hanna from killing her. She fires at the girl. Her bullet only wounds the girl as it enters one of her cheek and exits through her jaw. The girl drops to her knees holding her jaw and starts screaming out in pain as Hanna lines up another shot to put her out of her misery. This time it's hard for her to shoot. She can handle shooting armed attackers but not a helpless wounded girl in agony. In order for her to shoot she shoot the girl she has to constantly tell herself it's for the best and she's only putting the girl out of her misery. She finally forces herself to pull the trigger. Her bullet hits the girl in her heart killing her before her body hit the ground.

After that the fight only intensified and even more gun fire than before is aimed at Hanna pinning her down again. Anna is to distracted to notice the gun fire and if she hadn't of sat down under the window she would have been hit by the rain of bullets entering through the window and be nothing more than a bloody mess on the ground by now.

"Hey is everything alright?" Hannibal asks as he crawls under the gun fire to sit down next to her.

"I'm fine I just never killed an injured girl before" Hanna tells him. "I never thought it will be as hard as it was just than"

"Ok I understand" Hannibal calmly says. "But she's a slaver who's destroyed hundreds of lives and tore families apart; she doesn't deserve your pity"

With that Hannibal crawls back to the window where he was before. Hanna thinks about what he said and replays it over and over again in her mind. That girl was an evil slaver who didn't deserve her pity. But the image of the girl dying and her bullet shooting through her heart won't leave her mind.

She stands up and fires her last bullet loaded into her revolver n a break in the gun fire hitting her window. Her bullet hits a man in the stomach but doesn't kill him. He dives behind a wall for cover clutching his stomach but Hanna knows he's a goner. She's seen enough wounds to know that with the amount of blood he's losing that he'll be dead within a few minutes.

She quickly ducks back down as a hail of gun fire hits her window. She reloads her last six bullets into the revolver as a storm of bullets fly's over her head. The image of the dead girl returns to her as she fishes reloading. That image will hunt her for the rest of her life. She knows that whenever she picks up a gun again she'll always see that girl dying by her bullet.

* * *

Capital Wasteland Outskirts

Alex Franco

The group continues to follow Highway towards the ruins. They got lucky on their journey and didn't run into any problems on the Highway. The raiders that the outpost commander warned them about never shown themselves but now that they are nearing the Capital Wasteland they are entering more danger.

The Capital Wasteland is a warzone filled with raiders, slavers, mutants and super mutants all trying to kill each other and anyone else they see. The Brotherhood has been in the Capital Wasteland for years but all their efforts to stop the violence and bring peace have so far failed. Their efforts even brought about the traitorous Outcast and started a civil war inside the Brotherhood.

"How could anyone survive the destruction" Sakamoto asks him as they walk by a large building reduced to its scorched foundations.

"Most people survived by living in massive underground Vaults, others were lucky enough to be far away from the places that were hit and others like the original Brotherhood and Enclave were at military bases designed to survive a nuclear strike" Alex answers. "It's a pity that the Vaults were nothing but an experiment set up by the Enclave for their own benefit"

"What do you mean by that?" Minna asks confused by what he just said.

"The Vaults were meant to be a safe haven for refugees but instead they were set up to run experiments on those inside so that the rich and powerful would be safer" Alex began to explain with clear anger in his voice. "Vault 12 in Bakersfield had a faulty Vault door that wouldn't close all the way, allowing dangerous radiation to leak in, Vault 15 was built normally but was populated with a diverse mix of races and people to see what sort of tensions arise when varied backgrounds are packed into a small environment, Vault 13 was intended to stay shut for a full 200 years to test the effects of long term isolation and Vault 101 was to be sealed permanently to study the evolution of small communities in complete isolation from the rest of the world. Those are just the ones the Brotherhood knows about and there were hundreds of other Vaults across the country"

"That sounds horrible how could they just tell people they'll save them only to experiment on them" Sakamoto says clearly displeased with the Enclaves experiment.

"Why did they do that?" Minna asks she's just as unhappy as Sakamoto is about the Enclaves actions. "Why would they experiment on all those people when the human race almost destroyed itself?"

"Because they were planning on sending the rich and powerful to another planet or to live in space and they run experiments on everyone else so that they would be safe" Alex tells them. "But for some reason they didn't go through with the plan to build a spaceship and started a war with everyone who survived the apocalypse"

They continue to walking silence as the two witches absorb the news. It's a lot to take in. Alex can still remember how surprised he was when he first found out the true purpose of the Vaults. He didn't want to believe it ever but as he got older and saw what the Enclave were capable of doing it became easier to believe.

The group become so quiet that Alex quickly realizes that everyone was listing to his lecture about the Vaults. The witches are no doubt shocked by the news and his own squad is probably silent so the witches can absorb the news and because they are probably still in disbelief about the Vault Experiments.

But the quieter they are the more loudly the distance gun shots sound until they sound like they are right on top of them. That's when he realises how close it really is. It sounds like it's only just over the hill to the groups left.

"Everyone, hold up that gun fires close" Alex says as he raises a hand to signal the group to stop. "Wait here while I go check it out"

"I'm coming to" Sakamoto says and the two of them begin to climb the hill.

When they reach the top of the hill the source of the gun shots becomes clear. Twelve slavers have a ruined building surrounded and a giving covering fire to six more that are advancing on the building. Eight of the slavers lay dead already. Inside the building appears to be six people shooting back. There are three men and three women and a dog inside.

"Looks like salvers are attacking" Alex quietly tells Sakamoto.

"Those people need help" Sakamoto says as she starts to get up. He literally has to block her with his arm to stop her from charging in.

"I know and I've got a plan" Alex tells her which seems to calm her down.

"What's happening?" Minna asks as she and the others gather around the bottom of the hill.

"Slavers are attacking a group of people and the people under attack need help" Alex informs the group.

"So what's the plan?" Sam asks him eager to go and kill some slavers.

"Split into two teams me, Nathan and Your best shots move to a hill on the slavers flank" Alex says as he turns to Minna. "Everyone else will charge in and attach the slavers while the team on the hill covers them"

"Ok Lynne, Lucchini, Shirley and Yoshika go with Alex everyone else is attacking" Minna orders the witches.

"Ok let's move fast people they won't hold out forever" Alex says and everyone nods to say they are ready.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

Lynne lies down at the top of the hill and takes aim. She aims for a group of four raiders firing at the building from behind a collapsed wall of an old shop front. Yoshika is lying beside her with a pair of binoculars that Alex gave her. He originally tried as they moved towards the hill to give her a gun but when Yoshika refused he decided to make her a spotter for the group.

Alex opens fire signalling the attack and Lynne quickly follows his lead. She fires placing a bullet in a man's head that's using the same type of rifle as her. Her bullet passes straight through his head leaving a trail of blood and brain as the bullet carry's on after exiting his head. She quickly pulls back the bolt and chambers another round as she lines up her next target. She fires again putting a shot in an old woman's head blowing a chunk of it off and covering the two remaining raiders in the building in her brains and blood.

Lynne's next target is a young man about the same age as the Major firing a pistol at an upstairs window. She fires at the man and her bullet rips through his throat causing all of his blood to spray out all over the wall in front of him.

The last remaining man starts to fire at Lynne with a large automatic gun. His bullets hit the ground picking up dirt all around her. He keeps her under fire preventing her from shooting back at him. It is only when someone from the assault team kills him that the gun fire stops.

"Are you alright Yoshika?" Lynne asks turning to look at Yoshika.

"Yeah I'm fine what about you?" Yoshika replies with a smile.

"I'm fine too" Lynne says returning her smile and staring into Yoshika's eyes. Yoshika's eyes are the most beautiful brown that Lynne can't stop looking into them as the battle rages around her.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud Charges alongside Minna and Erica straight into the heart of the slavers position. She runs towards a ditch where two slavers are firing from. When she reaches the ditch she fires her rifle putting a bullet into the back of the head of one of the slavers and before the other one knows what hit him she uses her rifle as a club bringing it down so hard on the man's skull that not only does it break his skull but her rifle too.

She picks up a machinegun one of the slavers were using and fires into a line of slavers at the entrance to the building as they prepare to go in. they are mascaraed and don't even stand a chance in the hail of gun fire Gertrud sends their way. They are all torn to pieces before they know what hit them.

After that the fight is finished as the rest of the slavers are lying dead from the combined fire of the two groups and the people in the ruined building. Gertrud was just about to return to Erica and Minna when she spotted something she thought she would never see her.

Out of the ruined building a blond long haired girl wearing a Karlsland military uniform comes running towards her. As she gets closer Gertrud can tell she isn't seeing things and recognizes the girl. The girl running towards them is the star of Africa Hanna-Justina Marseille.

"What are you doing her Trude? I never thought I'll see you here" Hanna says as she reaches Gertrud.

"Hanna, how are you here?" Gertrud asks in disbelief.

"Some Neuroi zapped me with a strange crystal and I woke up here" Hanna answers. "Is that what happened to you?"

"Yes that's exactly how we got here" Minna answers as she, Erica and Minna walk over to them.

"Are all of the 501st here?" Hanna asks Minna.

"Yes everyone's here" Minna tells her. "What happened in our world since we left?"

"While everyone thinks you're dead and the Neuroi that sent me hear killed Maloney, his body guards and a Britannian witch before it sent me here"

"Everyone thinks we're dead" Gertrud says in disbelief. "Great the first thing Chris will hear when she wakes up is that I'm dead"


	10. Paradise

Temple of the Union

Erica Hartmann

Erica and Gertrud watch as Minna and Sakamoto take Hanna over to Alex. Gertrud has been down ever since she found out about everyone thinking she's dead. The only ever time Erica has seen her friend this depressed was when her sister first got put in a coma.

"We'll make it back before she wakes up" Erica tells her as she gives Gertrud a hug. This time she doesn't throw Erica off like normal. She doesn't hug back and keeps her arms stiff at her side.

"No we won't will be stuck here forever and Chris will think I'm dead" Gertrud replies and Erica can feel her body tense up and hear the sadness n her friends voice and Gertrud fights to hold back her teas.

"Don't speak like that" Erica firmly tells her as she breaks off her hug and slaps her fried across her face trying to knock some sense into her. "If you say things like that and give up then we'll never make it back to our world"

"I'm not giving up Erica" Gertrud says as she rubs the spot on her cheek where Erica struck her. "You know I'll go through hell and back to see Chris again"

"Then stop saying you'll die here" Erica says more cheerfully as Gertrud starts to turn back to her normal self.

"Don't worry I'm not planning on dying here" Gertrud replied.

* * *

Perrine H. Clostermann

Perrine sat on top of a nearby hill watching out for the arrival of more slavers. She's looking in the direction of the area where they used to be based at some place called Paradise Falls. Alex told everyone that the Lone Wanderer and that a he single handily defeated the slavers at Paradise Falls freed all the slaves there and left most of the slavers a Paradise Falls dead.

Dean is sat next to her the hill also keeping watch. At first Dean was meant to go alone on lookout duty but Major Sakamoto insisted that a witch goes with him. Perrine volunteered before anyone else had the chance to keen to impress the Major and earn her praise.

"How did the Lone Wanderer manage to defeat all those slavers by himself?" Perrine asks wounding how one man could do something a group of trained soldiers would struggle to do. "Is he some kind of great warrior or just someone how got lucky?"

"A bit of both I think2 Dean tells her. "I personally haven't seen him in combat but from the reports he was a big help in The Battle of Project Purity and he infiltrated Adams Air Force Base, destroyed the controls for their satellite weapons platform and eliminated Squad Sigma which was the best squad in the Enclave at that time while the Brotherhood caused an distraction by firing into the Air Base from fortified positions"

"Is he a member of the Brotherhood then?" Perrine asks him.

"He was made a knight of the Brotherhood before The Battle of Project Purity but he disappeared from the Capital Wasteland after Battle of Adams Air Force Base and no one's seen or heard from him since" Dean answers.

"Do you know what his name is because I highly doubt that Lone Wanderer was his birth name?" Perrine asks as her interest in the Lone Wanderer increases.

"No one knew his name. We know he was from Vault 101 and his father was a scientist called James but he died when the Enclave first took control of Project Purity" Dean says.

"That's a shame" Perrine says as she looks down at a flower growing through the cracks in the earth. "How did he die?"

"He sacrificed himself to save his son and research team from the Enclave" Dean tells her.

* * *

Sanya V. Litvyak

Sanya and Eila were sitting down. In one of the ruins watching Alex speak to Minna and Hanna. See Hanna here was a real surprise that no one saw coming. To be honest Sanya isn't sure Hanna's really there and that the girl just looks Hanna. She looks up into the clear blue sky trying to figure this.

"Is something on your mind Sanya?" Eila asks as she notices her friend deep in thought.

"No I just can't believe that Hanna's here" Sanya replies as she looks at Eila.

"Me never, I guess that means that Neuroi is still roaming around in our world" Eila says as she look down to the concrete floor. "Why do you think it sent us and Hanna here?"

"Probably because the 501st are the best squad back in our world and Hanna is the star of Africa so they might of sent us here to get us out of their way" Sanya suggest after thinking about it for a minute or two.

"That's probably it but I just have this feeling that something else is happening and that sprite knows all about what that is" Eila tells her as she thinks back to her vision.

"What do you think it is then?" Sana asks.

"I don't know but I think it needs us here for some reason" Eila answers as she looks up and watches a flock of birds fly over.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Ten minutes later everyone was gathered around Alex and Minna waiting to hear what their next move is. Rain clouds are staring to gather on the horizon and the wind is starting to pick up. There's a storm on the way and it looks like a big one.

"Alright everyone I have some bad news" Minna says before taking a deep breath and saying. "Everyone back in our world thinks we are dead. Three weeks have passed in our world since we left and they already held a funeral for us. At the funeral the Neuroi that sent us here, reappeared and it killed Air Chief Marshal Maloney, his bodyguards and a Britannian witch was killed before Hanna was sent to this world the same way we were"

"What? I thought that Neuroi blew itself up when it sent us here" Shirley says in disbelief.

"It's true Hanna's description matches the Neuroi that sent us here" Sakamoto tells her. A silence falls over the group for a moment before Minna continues to speak.

"Sorry but that's the truth and we can't let anyone know we're still alive unless we make it back" Minna says as calmly as she can. "But right now we need to get rid of the slavers"

"Why do we have to do it?" Gertrud asks. "Shouldn't we be focusing on how to get back to our world?"

"Don't worry, we are going to get back but right now these people need help" Minna answers as she points to the people in the ruined building. "They will not be safe until the slavers have been dealt with"

"She's right those people up there were barely able to fend off the slavers and if you lot hadn't shown up than we would have been killed in that last attack" Hanna adds as she steps into the middle of the group. "They need our help and there are probably more enslaved people at the slavers camp that needs saving"

"Fine what's the plan?" Gertrud asks.

"We are heading to Paradise Falls to scout it out before we come up with a plan" Alex says as he steps up beside Minna. "The slavers used to be based there and there's a good chance these slavers are based there too"

"Why would they be there?" Shirley asks him. "Wouldn't that be the first place anyone will look for the slavers?"

"Yes everyone would look there first but it's an isolated place making it easier to hide the presence of slaves and slavers aren't normally the brightest bulbs in the pack" Alex answers her. "Also it has already got cages and facilities to hose and guard slaves there"

"We're heading out in ten minutes so be ready" Sakamoto tells everyone.

* * *

Alex Franco

An hour later Alex, Minna and Sakamoto are lying flat on top of a hill overlooking Paradise Falls, they are looking at it with binoculars. They are surrounded by dead trees which cover the hill.

Inside Paradise Falls the three of them spot six slavers eating around a camp fire looking like they are having a good time. There a watch tower in the middle of Paradise Falls with a slaver on lookout with a Gatling gun. Towards the rear of Paradise Falls is where they are keeping the slaves in a chain-link fenced prison with a slaver holding a Riot shotgun guarding them. There are only three buildings in Paradise Falls and slavers can be seen walking in and out of them constantly. At the main gate are two slavers with Chinese assault rifles.

All together Alex estimates the slavers strength to twenty-four in total and six slaves in the cage. This isn't going to be easy but at least the slavers don't seem worried about being attacked. They seem more concerned about the slaves escaping than an external attack.

"I think me and Lynne should stay up here with Yoshika spotting for us" Alex says as he starts to come up with a plan.

"An assault on the entrance looks like it will get bogged down and come under heavy fire almost right away" Minna states as she scans the area.

"Is there any other way in?" Sakamoto asks.

"Well there's a tunnel that leads into the cage where the slaves are being held but I think only Lucchini and Yoshika are small enough to fit through there" Alex answers. "But we could blow an entrance in the outer wall well the creating a diversion with an attack on the entrance"

"What do you think about arming the slaves?" Minna asks. "If Lucchini delivers them weapons through the tunnel than we can launch a simultaneous attack on three fronts"

"That could work" Alex replies and Sakamoto nods in agreement. "Will attack at nightfall"

* * *

Secret Research Facility

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula was reading in her room. The wind was howling outside her window causing a branch of a tree to bang against her window. The night is pitch black with the moon and stars hidden behind the clouds.

Ursula couldn't focus on her book. She could only think about what happened to her sister, to the rest of the 501st and Hanna. Something must have happened to them because as Hanna vanished monitoring stations picked up a strange signal. They picked up that signal when the 501st disappeared to. Now Maloney, his bodyguards and a witch is dead with twelve other witches missing including her on sister. They are presumed dead but Ursula thinks they are alive and are trapped somewhere. She doesn't know how she knows this but she can just feel it in her heart.

"Ursula, are you ok?" A voice calls as someone knocks on her bedroom door.

"I'm fine I just got a lot on my mind" Ursula calls back as she puts her book down.

"Are you sure because I'm here for you if you want to talk" The voice replies.

"Yeah I'm fine thank you for our concern" Ursula tells the voice.

"Ok then goodnight" The voice calls.

"Goodnight" Ursula replies and she can hear footsteps walk away from her door.

That was no doubt the base commander Colonel Alice Deed. She's been worried about Ursula for a while now ever since her sister was reported KIA. She is only trying to help Ursula as she too knows what it feels like to loss a loved one. Her brother was killed when the Neuroi took Berlin and both her parents were killed before the Neuroi first appeared in a train crash. It's not like Ursula doesn't want to talk about it it's just that she is worried that she want believe her theory that her sister is still alive.

Something just seems wrong with how the 501st disappeared. Her concerns where reinforced when Hanna disappeared and those Britannian's died. She is determined to find out what happened to her sister. First thing tomorrow morning she is going to investigate what happened and find out the truth. It will not be easy as the incident has now been classified but she will find a way to discover the truth. Now all she has to do is sleep. Tomorrow morning she will begin her investigation. Tomorrow she will be one step closer to finding out the truth.

* * *

Paradise Falls

Francesca Lucchini

Lucchini and Erica have been crawling through an old sewer pipe that leads into the slave pit. Erica is taking the lead as Lucchini follows behind her pulling a bag of guns to arm the slaves with. They have been crawling through the tunnel for more only a few minutes and are approaching the end. The tunnel is dark, damp and smells of rotting eggs.

"Way do we have to do this?" Lucchini quietly moans to herself.

"Yeah but with this smell I can give Trude a nice surprise" Erica quietly whispers back as she quietly giggles. Lucchini can't help but giggle is well as she imagines Erica chasing around Gertrud who's holding her nose. "We're here"

The two witches stop under an opening covered in wood judging from the light the tunnel exits into a building. Erica pokes her head up through the hole to check if the coast is clear. She climbs up and Lucchini hands her the guns before she joins her.

The room is empty apart from six sleeping slaves on the floor. There is only a wooden door that is falling apart sealing them in the room. The only source of light in the room is from the moon which shines through the gaps in the door making beams of light.

"Hey everyone wake up we're getting you out of here" Erica says as she violently shakes the closest slave until he starts to wake up.

"Uh what's going on?" One of the slaves asks sleepily as he and the other slaves wake up.

"We are getting you out of here" Lucchini answers as she opens the bag full of guns.

"Now everyone, grab a gun and wait for us to tell you when to attack" Erica adds as she and Lucchini takes their rifles from the bag.

All the slaves grab a gun from the bag and ready themselves for the upcoming battle. The guns in the bag are mainly pump action shotguns that Hannibal gave them with a few pistols and with plenty of ammo for the fight. The slaves are all old men with grey hair and dirt coated skin. They are all wearing filthy brown torn tunics and no shoes.

"Who are you?" One of the slaves asks.

"We'll explain everything later but just know we are your friends" Lucchini tells him with a small smile on her face. She wanted to give him a bigger smile but she's too nervous to force one onto her face.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud was hiding behind a burned car machinegun at the ready as she waits for the signal to attack. The agreed signal to start the attack is the exposition Jayson will set off so he and his group can breach the slavers base. Gertrud is getting board of waiting around for the explosion and she is starting to think about attacking the slavers. Finally the explosion goes of filling the air with a deafening bang and lighting up the sky in a fiery ball.

Gertrud immediately jumps up and fires her machinegun into one of the guards at the gate turning him into a holy bloody mess on in seconds. The second guard is turned to ash by Sam's laser rifle after he received a direct hit to the head. Minna and Shirley are the only other ones assaulting the gate and they both fire their rifles into a slaver as he runs for cover killing him after placing two shots into his head.

"Trude cover us everyone else, move up" Minna orders as she advances towards the gate with Shirley and Sam right behind her. Sam was a little annoyed about not being in charge of the group but after learning about Minna's experience she soon changed her mind and decided to give Minna a chance. "Alright Trude we are in position move up"

"What is are next move?" Gertrud asks as she gets into a new firing position behind a fallen down tree.

"Wait here and cover Shirley as she places a charge on the gate" Minna answers as she looks down her rifle and scans the area for targets.

Gertrud watches Shirley as she runs from cover to cover towards the gate. She just reaches it and is about to place a charge onto the door when the gate suddenly explodes sending Shirley flying back into the side of an over turned car. Shirley lays on the ground unconscious as three slavers emerge out of the smoke wearing thick metal armour and firing fully automatically from their rifles causing Minna and Gertrud to use their shields and Sam to dive for cover.

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

Sakamoto charges through the breach before the smoke has settled weapon at the ready. She doesn't have to wait long before she finds her first target a slaver disoriented by the blast walking around aimlessly. Sakamoto doesn't waste a bullet dealing with him and just runs up to him drawing her knife. When she reaches him she drives her knife deep into his throat causing blood to coat her hand and wrist as she pulls the knife out.

Perrine, Eila and Sanya quickly catch up with her and stare at the bloody dripping knife in the Majors hand, they then to the body lying on the ground in a rapidly growing pool of blood and are shocked at the sight.

"Don't just stand here we need to press the attack" Dean tells the girls as he, Nathan and Jayson run by them and deeper into the slavers base.

"You heard him keep…" Sakamoto started to say before a second explosion tares the gate apart and she sees three slavers run into the smoke. "Let's keep moving Minna's group will be entering this base any minute now"

The girls move forward and Eila firing on the move shots a slaver in the shoulder as he pops out of cover then she shots him again ion the head as he falls to the ground. The girls join Dean and the other two Brotherhood soldiers in the centre of the base but immediately come under heavy fire from a two story house.

The fire from the house pins the enter group down and shows no signs of relenting. Two slavers with automatic weapons fire at them from the ground floor and another three fires at them from the second floor.

Every time the group shoots back the slavers respond with heavy fire on the shooter and the group's shoots bounce harmlessly of the thick concert walls. Minna's group still haven't made it inside the base yet and there is no sign of Lucchini, Erica or any of the slaves.

"Where is everyone else?" Sakamoto asks anyone who's listening as she once again looks at the gate and fails spot Minna's group.

"I don't know they were supposed to be here by now" Jayson answers as a line of bullets hit the wall he's hiding behind sending chunks of brick and mortar everywhere.

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

"Shit where the fuck did they come from?" Alex yells as he blows a slavers head off.

Yoshika, Lynne and Alex were just about to provide sniper support for the assaulting groups when suddenly they came under heavy fire from a slaver patrol. The patrol was able to sneak up behind them and open fire without anyone noticing. If it wasn't for the raiders being terrible shots and Yoshika's shield the group would have been completely wiped out.

There are four raiders in the patrol not counting the one Alex blow the head off. The remaining three slavers have taken cover in a group of boulders and are pinning the group down with automatic fire.

"Yoshika keep you head down and make sure they don't try and flank use" Alex orders as he loads his weapon.

"Don't worry I won't let them hurt you like the last bad guys did" Lynne tells her with a determination in her eyes that Yoshika has never seen before. She is no doubt remembering the raiders running off with Yoshika and then seeing her in the next day all banged up.

"Don't worry about me Lynne you should concentrate on the slavers" Yoshika says putting on a brave face despite being scared stiff. "I can take care of myself"

Lynne gives Yoshika a quick nod before she takes aim and fires at a slaver. The slaver falls to the ground with blood squirting out of his neck covering the two slavers next to him in a shower of blood. Alex also fires hitting another slaver between the eyes and turning him to ash.

The two remaining slavers still coated in their fellow slavers blood try to make a run for it but Lynne brings one down with a bullet through the back of his head and Alex turns the other to ash.

"Yoshika watch our rear in case more of them come" Alex orders as the dust of his latest kill falls to the ground. "Lynne you and I will provide cover for the assault groups"

* * *

Erica Hartmann

Erica burs through the door as the sound of the explosion rips through the air and shakes the slaves building. There is only one guard outside the cage and before he notices the slaves are armed and two girls are among them everyone open fires on him. After the shooting end the man falls to the ground with his face smashed in, one arm blown off and several holes in his stomach and chest.

"Everyone, follow me and check your targets before you open fire on them" Erica orders sounding not like herself.

"Yeah it will be a shame to shoot a friend in the back" Lucchini jokes with a little giggle.

Another guard rounds the corner to see what's happening but Erica quickly puts him down. She puts a bullet into the slavers head before he knows what hit him. He falls to the ground with his blood and brain leaking through the hole in his head.

"Let's get moving" Erica says as she kicks the gate open.

As soon as the gates swing open a machinegun fires at them cutting down one of the slaves and forcing everyone into cover. Erica and Lucchini put up their shields to deflect the incoming bullets and through her shield Erica sees that the machinegun is on the second floor of a two story house.

"Everyone, get back inside now!" Erica shouts. "Lucchini use your shield to protect them.

"I'm on it" Lucchini replies.

All the slave run back inside but one of them don't make it and is cut to ribbons by the machinegun. He falls to the ground cut in half by the machineguns hail of bullets. As soon as the last slave makes it inside Lucchini and Erica dives in after them and a storm of bullets begin to hit all around the door.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna is pinned down by automatic fire as the metal wearing slavers close in on her and her group. Sam hasn't been able to get off a shot and when Gertrud tried her bullets bounced off of the slavers metal armour. Shirley is still unconscious on the ground. The slavers must think she's dead because they walked right by her and barely gave her any attention.

"Trude try hitting them when they get closer" Minna orders as the metal men move ever closer. "Sam, do you know if their armour has any weak points we could exploit?"

"At the neck and joints is are best bet" Sam answers as Gertrud leaps over her cover and smashes into the nearest slaver causing the metal armour in his chest to crumple and the slaver to fall to the ground groaning.

The two remain slavers immediately concentrate their fire on Gertrud forcing her to use her shield. Sam and Minna don't waste the opportunity and jump up from behind cover and open fire aiming for the slavers necks. Sam's target turns to ash as he falls while as Minna's target falls to the ground holding his neck and making a horrible gargling noise before he finally dies. Gertrud finishes off her target by breaking his neck.

"Gertrud set up your machine gun and cover me. Sam, watch the entrance while I check on Shirley" Minna orders as she runs over to the fallen witch.

Shirley is lying still with blood coming from a cut on her fore head covering half her face and a large piece of metal stuck in her stomach. Minna cheeks her pulse and finds it to be strong and steady. It while take more than this to kill off Shirley Minna thinks as she continues to feel Shirley's pulse.

"We need Yoshika" |Minna states as she removes her fingers from Shirley's neck. "Sam can you go get her while me and Trude continue on with the mission"

"I'm on it" Sam says as she runs towards the sniping position where Yoshika's located.

"Will she be ok?" Gertrud asks as she looks over Shirley's body.

"She'll be fine once Yoshika gets here" Minna answers her with an encouraging smile on her face. "Let's just meet up with the Major and her group"

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

Lies down with a trunk of a fallen down tree next to her side, she is aiming at a two floored house in the base which appears to be giving the assaulting groups a hard time. Alex is laid on the other side of the tree and Yoshika is sat right behind her taking cover behind the stub of the tree watching Lynne's and Alex's back.

Lynne feels so safe knowing that Yoshika's got her back, know that she's not going to let anything harm her and knowing that she will always be there for her. Lyne can't help but stare at Yoshika and soon forgets all about the attack and is lost in her head with only thoughts of Yoshika and how beautiful she is filling her head. It doesn't take long to snap out of it as she soon here's the sounds of battle which brings her to her senses. Sounds of gunshots, people dying and people scared fill the air making the battle to close for Lynne not to pay attention.

Lynne picks her first target a machine gunner on the second floor of the building firing at Lucchini, Erica and the slaves. She fires her first shot but it misses hitting the wall above the gunner and only causing a few specs of dust to fall off the wall. She takes aim again. This time her bullet enters the window but misses the gunner. The machine gunner seems to have noticed Lynne now as a trail of bullets starts to head her way. Lynne takes a deep breath and pulls the trigger. This time her shot hits the mark and goes straight through the gunner's heart. The gunner falls to the ground coughing up blood and holding the hole where his heart used to be trying to stop the growing red stain on his shirt. The trial of gun fire stops crawling towards Lynne and she lets out a sigh of relief. It is then when Sam arrives running up to the group from their front.

"Yoshika needs to come with me Shirley's been hurt" Sam says as she tries to catch her breath.

"What happened down there?" Alex asks as Yoshika walks over to Sam.

"They blow up the gate in Shirley's face and by the look of it that two floored house is giving everyone a hard time" Sam answers as she takes deep breaths to try and recover from her run over here.

"How badly is she hurt?" Yoshika asks.

"She seems to be in a bad shape but Minna said she's stable" Sam tells her.

"Alright lets go" Yoshika says and Sam nods the two begin to run down the hill together and towards the injured Shirley.

"Be safe Yoshika!" Lynne shouts after her.

"I will you be safe too!" Yoshika shouts back.

"I'll provide cover for the assaulting groups" Alex tells her. "Cover Sam and Yoshika make sure they make it to Shirley"

"Right I'm on it" Lynne replies as she puts Yoshika into her sights.

"What type of relationship do you two have by the way because you seem like you're more than friends" Alex asks her catching Lynne off guard and making her blush.

"We… We're just friends" Lynne answers still nervous of what people will think of her and Yoshika's relationship. She wished she was Yoshika because almost right away she wanted to tell everyone about their relationship but Lynne was too nervous about what others would think and talked Yoshika out of it.

"Really because friends don't stare at each other like that" Alex tells her making Lynne turn red in embarrassment as she thinks if he'd noticed her then what about the others. "If you love her than tell her there's nothing wrong with two girls dating as long as they love each other right"

"That's ok here?" Lynne quickly asks him. "Because where we are from its frowned apron"

"We'll there are some people who don't like it but most people could care less about who other people date and fuck" Alex answers her. "Besides you'll make a cute couple"

That last comment catches Lynne off guard again and she takes a minute to let it sink in. the fact that he thinks they will make a cute couple warms her heart and makes her so happy. She decides that she can trust him and tell him the truth almost right after he told her that.

"Well we are already going out with each other" Lynne answers still red with embarrassment.

"We'll I wish you good luck in your relationship" Alex says putting a smile on Lynne's face.

"Can you not tell anyone about that we still haven't told anyone else about this yet" Lynne asks him as she watches Yoshika' through her rifles iron sight.

"Don't worry your secretes safe with me" Alex replies an Lynne can't tell but believes he is smiling under his helmet.

* * *

Dean Camron

Dean starts to hear Alex's Gauss rifle finally open fire onto the house keeping them pinned down and the fire from the house lessen. He looks up to see the second floor clear of hostiles and one of their dead bodies hanging out of the window dripping blood onto the ground below him.

"Minna's group is finally here" Eila points out. Dean turns round to see only Minna and Gertrud enter the base and take up position behind a destroyed car.

"Where are Sam and Shirley?" Sakamoto asks as those two fail to follow Minna and Gertrud through the gate.

"Shit something must have happened" Nathan says out loud.

Everyone looks to the gate hopping to see the two run through it at any moment but that doesn't happen. Dean starts to worry about the two hopping that they are not too injured or have been killed.

"We'll figure it out later right now we have a job to do" Sakamoto tells everyone snapping them back to their current position. "Dean, Eila and Sanya come with me a clear that building"

Dean charges across the open ground behind the Major towards the building. They make it without taking a single shot but once the stack up next to the door Dean starts to hear slavers talking inside. Sakamoto raises three fingers and begins to countdown with them. When her last finger drops, she kicks open the door and charges in with Dean at her heels.

Dean runs into the room and spots three slavers talking amongst themselves at the edge of an over turned table. Dean fires hitting one of the slavers in the head with a beam from his rifle turning her body to dust as it falls to the ground. Sakamoto takes out another one with a quick shot to the head hitting an old man in his left eye giving the wall behind him a fresh red coat of blood.

The remaining slaver ducks behind the table as Eila and Sanya enter. He begins to fire blindly over the table with a Chinese assault rifle forcing the witches to use their shields and Dean to take cover behind a support pillar.

"Cover me will I flank him" Dean shouts over the deafening sound of gunfire.

"Alright go now" Sakamoto sys as she begin firing as fast as she can at the slaver temporarily stopping his fire.

Dean moves behind a counter and begins to crawl beside it to flank the slaver. The slave doesn't seem to notice him as he continues to fire blindly at the three witches and pays Dean no attention. Dean manages to crawl all the way behind the slaver without being detected and makes it to the perfect firing position behind a pillar behind the slaver. Dean fires a laser beam at the slaver hitting him in the back of the head causing the slavers head to explode sending brains and blood flying in every direction.

With that the battle at Paradise Falls comes to an end and after search through the slaver base Alex gathers everyone together at the gates to tell them their next move. The storm that has been approaching all day is nearly upon them as flashes of lightning and roars of thunder are starting to appear on the horizon and are getting closer and closer. At light rain has also started to fall over the Wasteland.

* * *

Temple of the Union

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

Shirley wakes up with a pounding headache in a comfortable bed as thunder roars outside shaking her bed and flashes of lightning lights up her room through a small window. It is tipping it down outside as Shirley can't see a thing through the rain covered glass window other than lines of large drops of rain falling to the ground whenever a flash of lightning lights up her window.

Shirley looks down to the bottom of her bed to find Lucchini sleeping there with her face buried in the blanket. Lucchini look so peaceful sleeping there and as she moves her head in her sleep Shirley can see a smile on the face of the young witch. Shirley can barely bring herself to wake the sleeping Lucchini up but she knows she has to as sleeping like that isn't good for her back.

"Hey Lucchini" Shirley quietly says as she gently shakes the young witches shoulder. Lucchini slowly starts to wake up as she sleepily blinks her eyes. "Hey Lucchini you're going to hurt you back if you keep sleeping like that"

"Shirley your awake" Lucchini says full of joy as she jumps onto Shirley's lap and gives her a tight hug that sends waves of pain up Shirley's spine.

"Yeah I'm awake but can you hug me a bit gentler you're starting to hurt me" Shirley says with a smile on her face.

"Oh sorry I forgot you were hurt" Lucchini says as she lets go of Shirley. "You're lucky to be alive considering you were blown up"

"What happened and where are we?" Shirley asks as she looks round the room.

"We are in Temple of the Union. Barkhorn carried you here after the battle and Yoshika was done healing you" Lucchini answers. "We lost two of the slaves during the fight but the other four have been welcomed here and are going to stay here"

"That's good, remind me to thank Yoshika in the morning" Shirley says as she lets out a yawn.

"What about Barkhorn?" Lucchini asks.

"Are you kidding me she'll never let me forget it if I thank her" Shirley says with a giggle. "She'll constantly bring it up when she lectures me about my behaviour"

"Ok but you should go back to bed we are leaving at drawn tomorrow" Lucchini tells her.

"Ok you should get some rest to Lucchini you look like you need it" Shirley replies as she pats the young witch on the head.

"Um can I sleep in that bed with you the lightning scares me?" Lucchini nervously asks.

"Hop in" Shirley says as she moves over to make room. Lucchini jumps into bed and rests her face on Shirley's chest using them as pillows. She falls asleep nearly instantly and Shirley wraps her arms around the young with before she too falls asleep.


	11. Growing Threat

Unknown

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila was sleeping soundly when suddenly the sound of rotors fills the air getting louder and louder by the second. Eila wakes up and looks around. She's no longer in the temple but standing in the Ruins of New York. She can tell she's in New York as she spots the Statue of Liberty in the distance but it appears to have been blown in half.

The sound of rotor blades continues to get louder and in the distance Eila can spot the source of the sound. A row of ten air craft fill the sky with another twelve boats moving at high speed towards heading straight for her.

Men wearing the uniform of the NCR start to appear running towards the shore and taking up defensive positions. A few Brotherhood soldiers join them. Behind her NCR soldiers ready an Anti-Air gun and begin to open fire on the incoming air craft.

Now that the aircraft are closer Eila can make out the two propeller engines mounted at the ends of the wings, its rounded metal body with two machineguns and a missile wrack under each wing to attack its target.

The NCR AA fire begins to surround the aircraft in black clouds of flack. Two of the aircraft burst into flames and crash to the ground. A third aircraft begins to loss altitude as one of its engines catches fire.

The aircraft begin to return fire hitting the AA gun behind Eila with several missiles leaving nothing but an inferno where the gun once stood. The aircraft continue to rain missiles down on the defenders as the lower altitude. As they get lower they open up with the two machineguns but instead of bullets laser beams shoot out of the guns kill several people within seconds and turn several others to ash.

Now that the boats are closer they also fire laser beams from machine guns mounted on the boats. The aircraft do something strange as they approach the ground. Their rotors turn upwards towards the sky and they land vertically. As the aircraft touch down six armed soldiers climb out of each aircraft using plasma based weapons the cut down the remaining defenders before the boats land with eight more soldiers on board each one.

After that Eila woke up to the morning sun rising back at the temple. Lying next to her sound asleep is Sanya. She is covered in sweat and her heart is betting so fast that it might break out of her chest. She looks around and sees Dean in a similar state.

"I take it you saw that two than" Eila quietly tells him so she doesn't wake anyone else up.

"Yeah the Enclave in New York" Dean says shaking his head. "If what we saw really happened than the East Coast is in trouble"

"What do you mean by that?" Eila asks worried that something treble is about to happen.

"It's bad because New York and The Capitol Wasteland are the only two strong points we have along the East Coast" Dean answers as he wipes sweat from his eyes. "The D.C ruins still aren't under our control yet so any attack here could be devastating"

"The day has already gone to shit if that's true" Eila moans to herself.

* * *

Secret Research Facility

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula has been up since the creak of dawn reading over the reports of the 501st deaths and the more she reads the more intrigued she gets. The only survivor of the attack a base mechanic reported seeing all the members of the 501st get hit by a Neuroi beam and fall into the sea. But when divers searched the sea nearby the base the found no sign of anybody or wreckage from the Striker Units. Also locals reported seeing a blinding light over the base and the mechanic didn't mention the light in the sky.

"This doesn't add up" Ursula says to herself as she puts the report away.

"What doesn't add up?" A voice calls over her shoulder.

"Oh nothing I was just reading over my sister's death report" Ursula answers as she turns around to face her commander Alice Deed.

"Really because for as long as I known you nothing has appeared that you can't understand Ursula" Alice tells her. "You could always tell me about it and see if I can help you out"

"Well the reports about the 501st don't add up" Ursula says as she hands her the notes she's been taking on the file. "We both know that they wouldn't let themselves be picked off like that"

"Yes but after fighting off so many Neuroi they were all probably tired" Alice replies as she hands back the note.

"Then what about that light everyone but the witness saw" Ursula points out. "I saw that same light at the burial when Hanna disappeared"

"Well that was… Wait is that the witness?" Alice asks in panic as she looks at a picture of the base mechanic. "I think I seen her before when another mysterious light appeared"

"Really, where did you see her?" Ursula asks eager for a clue into her sister's death.

"I can't remember but I have a picture in my room and that a woman's in the background" Alice answers. "Wait ere I'll go fetch it"

* * *

The Capital Wasteland

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika and Lynne where walking at the back of the group taking quietly amongst themselves. They have been walking none stop for most of the day and have seen nothing but ruins and dead trees since they left the temple. Yoshika's foot has finally healed at least so she can now walk around without any pain.

This world is only getting worse and worse. First it's in ruins after a human on human war which killed nearly everybody on the planet, than raiders run around attacking at while, slavers have a been operating in the area and now the Enclave a group of people Alex says are evil have attacked and captured New York this morning. Eila and Dean saw them take it in a vision and Alex confirmed it over the radio with the Brotherhoods HQ here in the Capital Wasteland.

"When can we go home?" Yoshika sighs and she can feel her eyes water up as thoughts of home and family fill her head. "This world is just awful"

"Don't worry Yoshika, will be back home in no time" Lynne sweetly says as she grabs Yoshika's hand and gives in a reasoning squeeze.

"Oh I sorry I didn't mean to say that out loud" Yoshika quickly states as she realizes how loud she just said that.

"You don't have to be sorry you only spoke what's on your mind" Lynne tells her a smile. "It's better this way because if you keep stuff to yourself it will only make it worse and now I can help you"

"Thanks Lynne" Yoshika replies returning Lynne's smile.

"So what are you two up too?" Shirley asks as she wraps her arms around both of the girl's neck and presses their foreheads into hers.

"Uh nothing… we were just talking" Yoshika replies as she and Lynne try to break free of Shirley's grasp.

"Are you sure because you two looked like you were talking about something…" Shirley says before add in a seductive voice. "Interesting"

"It seemed interesting to me too" Lucchini adds as she steps in front of the three witches.

"It was really nothing" Yoshika says again as both her and Lynne's faces turn bright red.

"Yeah Yoshika was just missing her home and family" Lynne says and both Shirley and Lucchini laugh.

"Lucchini told me something that happened last night while I was unconscious" Shirley tells them in a teasing voice.

"Yeah I saw you two kissing each other" Lucchini tells them.

"Well we…" Yoshika was about to say when Lynne cut her off.

"We started dating" Lynne tells them knowing that Yoshika would keep stuttering.

"I known you two liked each other" Shirley says letting Yoshika and Lynne go. "It took you long enough"

"Yeah Erica even set up that truth and dare game up with us to make you two kiss" Lucchini says.

"You set that up" Yoshika says as she touches her lips and remembers the kiss.

"Yeah we thought you'll start dating then and seal the deal that night" Shirley says giggling. "But then the Neuroi attacked and we ended up here"

* * *

Skies over Britannia

No. 578 Squadron RAF

Cyril Joe Barton

Cyril was flying his Halifax bomber towards the channel in formation with the rest of his squadron. Their mission is to bomb a Neuroi that is raining down long rang artillery fire all along the South Coast for the past two days. The navy already tried and failed to destroy the Neuroi yesterday but where beaten back after taking heavy fire from the Neuroi and losing two destroyers and a cruiser.

"Ten minutes to target" The planes navigator shouts.

"You heard him everyone get ready" The pilot orders and Cyril can hear the sounds of the gunners ready their weapons. "How are you holding up Cyril?"

"I'm fine just a bit nervous" Cyril answers looking dead ahead into the white cloudy sky. "Too be honest I don't even think we'll be able to spot the target"

"Don't worry, will find it" The pilot says. "It's the Neuroi that won't see us coming"

"Sir I think I see a witch flying in the clouds below us!" Someone shouts.

"Where did you see her?" The pilot calls back.

"Directly below us sir she should appear in…" The man shouts up but never gets the chance to finish as the bomber to Cyril's plane explodes after being struck by a Neuroi beam from below.

"That's not a witch all gunners engage at will" The pilot orders a human shape Neuroi shots up from below the clouds and fires two beams from its eyes at Cyril's plane. Thanks to the quick reaction of Cyril only one of the beams hits the engine causing it to burst into flames. The gunner in the nose of the air craft opens fire but the Neuroi darts to the right and fires another pair of beams into the plane on Cyril's right as it flies by causing the bombs on board to explode and tear the plane apart in less than a second. "Shit call for back up!"

Four Spitfire fighters chase after the Neuroi which descends back into the clouds. The Neuroi reappears in front of Cyril's plane with tracer fire from the fighters following it. The Neuroi does a lope and fires two beams down into the clouds. Two of the fights emerge from the clouds in flames before falling back down towards the ground. The other two fighters rise from the clouds but the Neuroi immediately shoots both of them down.

"Our escort is down all planes break formation and take evasive actions" The flight leader says over the radio to all the planes.

"Fuck it we are banking left and stay with the other planes" The pilot tells Cyril as he starts his turn.

The Neuroi charges the bomber formation and fires its beam at the lead plane blasting its tail off and causing it to spin to the ground. The Neuroi then climbs after completing its attack run and begins to fire down onto the formation. Two planes in front of Cyril's plane and go down in a ball of flames.

"Another planes been it behind us and is going down!" The rear gunner shouts up.

"This isn't good" Cyril says under his breath.

"I know, where the hell is our reinforcements?" The pilot asks.

"They're still ten minutes out" The radio operator replies as another plane gets blown out of the sky.

"We won't be here in ten minutes" The pilot tells him. "Tell them to hurry the fuck up"

* * *

Skies over Britannia

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

"This is Flight Lieutenant Takei Junko we will be with you in any minute now" Takei says to the Britannian bombs as they approach. "Watch your fire we'll be coming in from the north"

Takei is taking three members of the 504th to aid the bombers. The rest of her squad is on standby in case the Neuroi tries to break through the coastal defences. The 504th is normally stationed in the Mediterranean but after the deaths of the 501st they were reassigned to Britannia as replacements for the 501st.

With her is Patricia Schade a witch from Britannia and two Liberion witches Dominica S. Gentile and Jane T. Godfrey. They have been traveling at top speed for the last five minutes desperate to reach the bombers before they are wiped out.

When they reach the Bombers there are only two left and one of them has an engine on fire. The Neuroi attacking them seems to be toying with the remaining bombers as it fires its beams inches away from the planes. But when it notices the approaching witches the Neuroi fires a pair of beams from its eyes at the undamaged plane causing the bombs on board to explode. It attempts to shoot down the second plane. The pilots of the bomber manage to dodge one of the beams but the second one hit's the rear turret leaving a smoky hole behind.

"Dominica, Jane move in and attack the Neuroi" Takei orders as she switches the safety off her gun. "Patricia follow me to the bomber we'll protect it until it's out of the Neuroi's attack range"

"Yes ma'am" The three witches reply.

The Liberion witches charge at the Neuroi guns blazing drawing the Neuroi's fire away from the bomber. Takei and Patricia take up position behind the bomber ready to block any incoming Neuroi beams.

"Can you make it back to the airfield?" Takei asks the pilot of the bomb as they reach the limit of the Neuroi's attack range.

"Yeah thanks to you lady's" The pilot replies as he flies off back to Britannia.

"Alright let's re-join the fight" Takei says as she turns around.

I'm right behind you" Patricia says as she falls in behind Takei.

The two witches rush to aid their Liberion comrades. The Neuroi seems to be giving them a hard time as it moves at an extremely high speed and can turn on a dime. It can only shoot two beams at a time but those beams have pin point accuracy. This Neuroi is like nothing these witches have faced before.

"Patricia flank left" Takei orders as she begins to fire on the Neuroi.

Her bullets never hit Neuroi as the Neuroi dodges them with ease with a spin and immediately returns fire with two beams. Takei blocks the beams with her shield and at this point Patricia attacks the Neuroi from the left. She charges the Neuroi corkscrewing to avoid the beams the Neuroi sends her why. Again the Neuroi dodges every bullet sent its way and dives for the clouds. All four witches give chase but are interrupted by several Neuroi beams shot at them from below. Takei looks down to see several small arrow shaped Neuroi shooting out of the sea and heading straight for her guns blazing.

"Break pursuit and engage" Takei orders as the witches block the beams shot at them with their shields.

"I count sixteen in total" Dominica says as the Neuroi get closer.

"Engage at will" Takei says as she lowers her shield and fires. Her bullets tear into the closes Neuroi destroying it nearly instantly.

The other witches soon follow her lead and begin to engage the Neuroi. Takei keep Patricia close as the two of them dive down at the Neuroi. On their way down they destroy another three Neuroi and Takei looks to see Dominica doing what she does best charging guns blazing at the enemy with Jane right behind. Between the two of them another four Neuroi are destroyed.

"Only four of them are left" Takei says as the witches regroup below the Neuroi.

"That means one each right?" Dominica asks as she lines up a Neuroi in her sights.

"Yes everyone pick your target and fire" Takei replies as she too lines up her shot. Within seconds the four Neuroi are down without even being able to fire a single beam at the witches or to complete their turn. "Good work everyone; can anyone spot the first Neuroi?"

"No I lost it" Jane answers.

"Me too" Dominica adds.

"I can't spot it ever" Patricia says.

"Alright return to base we don't have enough magic left to search the area" Takei orders.

* * *

Megaton

Hanna-Justina Marseille

The 501st and Brotherhood have been walking all day and are just arriving at a place Alex said was called Megaton. The sun is starting to set in the distance and the air begins to cool down.

Megaton seems like it's nothing more than a metal shell from a distance and up close it looks just a pile of junk welded together. Up above the gate is a man wearing leather armour and he has a rifle sung over his shoulder. At the gate is a signal guard but it's not a human guard. A metal man size machine stands at the gate wearing a cowboy hat. The machine for some reason has made the entire 501st nervous and they now sand back ready to attack.

"What's wrong?" Hanna asks Minna who looks like she's about to grab her weapon.

"Last time we saw machines like that they tried to kill us" Minna answers not taking her eyes of the machine.

"Calm down this one's not going to attack you unless you attack it first" Alex tells the witches. "The one's that attacked you before probably did so because you were trespassing somewhere"

"He's right those metal men did call us intruders before they attacked" Sakamoto tells Minna.

"Everybody, stand down and don't do anything stupid" Minna orders as she sees the machine hasn't made a single threatening move towards the group. It just stands there watching them from besides the gate.

Alex and Minna quickly move the group inside as they both sense the witch's nervousness and are worried it will cause a problem. Once through the gate Hanna can see the whole of Megaton. It's a creator with metal buildings hanging to the edges and a giant unexploded bomb at the bottom of the creator lying in a pool of water. There are a lot of people walking around the town and most of them are armed.

The wind isn't present inside the walls of the town but it can be herd howling over the town and blowing into pipes filling the town with the sound of whistling. The chatter of the locals is barely audible over the noise of the wind.

"Is that bomb down there still active?" Hanna says pointing to the giant bomb in the middle of town.

"Yeah the Lone Wonder defused it when he came through here" Dean answers.

"He seems too good to be true" Perrine mutters.

"Yeah he was one of a kind" Jayson says. "We even get to stay in his old house he handed it over to the Brotherhood after the Battle of Adams Air Force Base"

* * *

Sanya V. Litvyak

An hour later Sanya and Eila was sat on the couch watching Shirley and Hanna play pool which is turning more into a grudge match as Hanna's competitive side starts to show each time Shirley beats her. Shirley has beaten her in every game so far and Hanna keeps saying stuff like "That was just a warm up" And "Best two out of three" after each loss.

Yoshika and Lynne are in the kitchen with Dean cooking. They would have probably done it alone together like they normally do but they are unfamiliar with the food in this world and took Dean up on his other to show them how to cook it.

The house is pretty much full with furniture. On the ground floor are a small kitchen and a living room. The kitchen is just off to the side of the living room. The kitchen is very small and only has a fridge, oven and a small counter and sink. The living room is probably the largest room in the house and is now crowded with the rest of the group. It has two sofas which can be unfolded into a double bed, a pool table ad a jukebox which is currently playing Way Back Home. The second floor has two bedrooms, a large one with two bunk beds and a smaller one with another bunk bed inside. A large fan hangs from the ceiling that hardly works and slowly spins round.

"Eila is something wrong you've been unusually quiet all day?" Sanya asks her friend as Shirley and Hanna start another game of pool.

"It's nothing I just never realised how powerful the Enclave is until I saw it in my vision this morning" Eila answers.

"Were they really that bad?" Sanya asks hopping that Eila would tell her that they aren't unbeatable.

"They have flying machines that are armed to the teeth and those aircraft completely wiped out the defenders at New York before their infantry arrived" Eila tells her as she hugs her knees to herself. "They also have powerful weapons"

"That sounds bad" Sanya comments. "Do you think we can beat them?"

"Yes I'm sure we can" Eila replies in a more positive tone. "If we can beat the Neuroi than we can beat the Enclave"

"That's good" Sanya says with a smile that Eila returns.

* * *

Secret Research Facility

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula sits still in her chair as she waits for Alice to return. She is interested to see the photo Alice has with that women in it. As she waited she continuously thought and rethought everything she knows about the 501st deaths. Her thoughts start to drive her crazy and it's a big relief to her when she hears Alice re-enter the room and walk up behind her.

"I got that photo" Alice says as she hands Ursula a picture.

Ursula examines the photo. She recognizes two of the people instantly, a young looking Major Sakamoto and Dr Miyafuji. She has to look more closely at the photo before she spots the women. It's defiantly her. She doesn't look like she has aged at a single day since the photo was taken.

"That's her" Ursula says once she's sure. "She looks the exact same here as she does in the photo they took of her in the paper the day after the 501st died"

"I know and now that I think about it wasn't there a bright light reported the day that the accident happened at Dr Miyafuji's lab?" Alice asks as she thinks back to that day when Dr Miyafuji died.

"Yeah if I remember correctly than there was a bright light emitted from within the lab a few minutes before it exploded" Ursula confirms. "So that means that the same thing that happened to Hanna and the 501st also happened to Dr Miyafuji"

"I'm afraid you might be right about that" Alice says as she shakes her head.


	12. The Citadel

Megaton

Mio Sakamoto

Sakamoto woke up facing the sleeping Minna in a makeshift bed the two of them made last night out of spare clothes they found around the house. Seeing Minna's sleeping face warms her heart. Minna looks so peaceful and beautiful when she sleeps. Sakamoto gets up as quietly and carefully as possible trying not to wake Minna up. Unfortunately Minna begins to stir and slowly wakes up.

"Good morning" Minna says as she sits up.

"Morning, sorry I didn't mean to wake you" Sakamoto replies as she stretches out her sleepy limbs.

"You don't have to be sorry I'm sure everyone else would be up in a minute and they would have woken me" Minna says as she puts her hand on Sakamoto's shoulder and gives her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah I can already hear someone moving around in the kitchen" Sakamoto replies as the sound of metal hitting the floor echoes through the house. "Yoshika and Lynne are probably already up making breakfast"

"Ever that or Lucchini's trying to get a snack" Minna says as she remembers all the times she caught the young witch climbing on the counters searching through the upper cupboards in search of the biscuits that the witches eat with their tea. Minna had to start hiding the biscuits from her recently as she would eat the whole packet or take it to one of her many hiding spaces.

"Well I don't think she'll find anything that doesn't need cooking" Sakamoto comments. "I couldn't see anything but raw meat when I was in there last night"

"Well then its Yoshika and Lynne as I haven't heard any of Lucchini's moaning yet" Minna says with a light laugh.

"That's good because at least breakfast is nearly ready" Sakamoto says as she gets to her feet.

"Yeah hopefully she knows how to cook the strange food in this world" Minna says with a yawn as she also stands up and stretches out her arm. "I think her and Lynne were only able to cook that meal last night because of Dean's help"

"Yeah but her record states she's a quick learner when it comes to cooking so she is probable already an expert in cooking this worlds food" Sakamoto tells Minna as the two start to walk towards the kitchen.

Down stairs the Brotherhood squad is already up and dressed apart from Alex who is nowhere to be seen. Hanna, Shirley and Lucchini are already up and down stairs with the Brotherhood. They are all talking quietly amongst themselves as Minna and Sakamoto join them.

"Morning" Shirley calls out as Minna and Sakamoto joins the group.

"Good morning, so who's in the kitchen?" Minna asks.

"Oh Yoshika and Lynne are in there and just dropped something and Alex went in there to see what happened" Hanna answers and Alex walks into the room holding a bird in his hand.

"Is everything ok in there?" Shirley asks him as he walks past the group and towards the front door.

"Yeah this bird just flown in through a hole in the wall and gave the two girls in there a little scare" Alex calmly tells them as he continues towards the door. "Jayson open the door"

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

"I think the meats done now" Lynne says as she takes a tray of Mole rat meat out of the oven.

The meat in this world is strange but also cooks a lot like the meat back in their world which makes sense because the meat comes from the same creatures that are back in their world only they have mutated due to the radiation apparently. For example the Brahmin mutated from cows and tastes and cooks like beef.

"Ok I've finished up this mess" Yoshika says as she puts the last pieces of broken china in the bin. After that bird got in a made her jump she smashed several plates on the ground. "I'll help you dish up"

The two of them dishes up the meat together in silence. They've done this so many times together that they don't need words to complete this task. Their hands work in unison and in less than a minute they've dished up.

"This is the first time cooking this meat I hope everyone likes it" Yoshika says as she grabs a pair of plates.

"Don't worry I'm sure they will love it" Lynne tells her as she too grabs a pair of plates. "Everyone loves your cooking"

* * *

Dean Camron

Everyone was sat down in the living room. The sofa beds are still set up as beds to make more room to sit down. Everyone is eating Mole rate meat for breakfasts which is surprisingly good considering its Yoshika's and Lynne's first time cooking it. They were nervous when they first brought it in probable because they were afraid everyone would hate their cook but after the compliments started they so relaxed and started to enjoy the meal. Twenty minutes later the group was finished eating and left the house.

The morning sun has already risen and the air is starting to warm up. A light mist has settled over the town. There is no one around but the group and the Protectron guarding the gate. All the other residents of the town are most likely still in bed.

Looking up at the sky it's hard to believe that it could be so misty down here on the ground when there's not a cloud in the sky or coming over the horizon. The only thing of then the crystal blue in the sky above them is the rising sun.

"So, what's the problem with the Enclave?" Hanna asks Dean as she steps up beside him as the group leaves Megaton. "Something must of happened to make you guys hate them so much"

"Well we was thinking about working with them when they first started to appear off the West Coast but we soon learned that they were planning on killing everybody with a deadly virus called F.E.V leaving them the only living creatures on the planet" Dean answers as he remembers the story of the Chosen One.

Dean and his friend's would always tell stories about him. About how he stole the Vertibird plans from under the Enclave nose and singlehandedly killed the President and destroyed the Enclave HQ stopping there plans of mass murder.

"Why would they do that? Shouldn't all of you have banded together after living through all this destruction" Hanna says as she shakes her head and tries to get a clear picture of the Enclave.

"Yeah we should have done that" Dean replies as he looks up at the clear blue sky. "But the Enclave thought the world was overrun by mutants and they didn't see people with slight amount of radiation as human any more so hey decided to kill them all and they calm it was all to save humanity"

"Well that sounds stupid" Hanna mutters. "How could they claim to be saving you humanity when they are clearly killing it?"

"Well that's why we are fighting them to save humanity" Dean says.

* * *

Skies over Britannia

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

The 504th is flying over the Channel towards the Neuroi artillery. The task of destroying the artillery has been given to the 504th since both the Air Force and Navy have already tried and failed to destroy the Neuroi and both attempts resulting in massive casualties.

The 504th have sent seven of its ten members to assault the Neuroi. They fly in a V-formation towards their target with Takei leading the group. Takei leads the witches over the tick cloud layer. They are just approaching their target and through the thick layer of clouds they can see the red glow of a Neuroi.

"Alright Dominica, Jane attack from the right, Nakajima, Suwa attack from the left, Patricia and Angela you two are with me attacking the centre" Takei orders as the witches fly directly over the Neuroi. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes ma'am" The other witches reply.

"Good now all witches attack" Takei says as she dives down towards the Neuroi.

The other witches are quick to follow her lead and dive down through the clouds right behind her. As she emerges on the other side of the clouds Takei gets her first sight of the Neuroi artillery. It's much larger than any Neuroi Takei has seen before. The Neuroi has four long fat black legs and a large cube for a body with two long barrels ever side that fires a beam at incredible ranges.

As Takei attacks the centre with Patricia and Angela the giant Neuroi fires a pair of beams at the three witches. Fortunately the beams this Neuroi fires move at a slower pace the beams from the other Neuroi and the three witches dodge the incoming beams with ease. The three witches continue their attack firing three lines of lead across the top of the Neuroi. As soon as the pull up from the attack the other four witches attack from both flanks. Dominica and Jane fire into the Neuroi and their damage combined with the first attacks damage courses both corners on the Neuroi's right side to falloff and shatter as they hit the ground. Nakajima and Suwa have better luck in their attack as they concentrate their fire onto the left barrels of the Neuroi causing it to also fall and shatter on the ground.

"We need to rethink are plan" Nakajima says as the witches regroup behind the Neuroi.

"I know we'll only waste our bullets if we just try and chop that thing up" Takei agrees.

"If you cover me I can make my bullets explode inside that thing and cause maxim damage well you lot save your ammo and wait for the core to be revelled" Angela suggests.

Just as she suggests that six smaller versions of the large Neuroi dig themselves out of the ground and opens fire on the witches. These smaller Neuroi are about the size of a man but pack a punch as they immediately begin to rapid fire beams at the witches and surround the large Neuroi.

"Dominica, Jane, Nakajima and Suwa rake out the small Neuroi on the ground" Takei orders as twenty arrow shaped Neuroi shoot out of the sea and head straight for her. "Angela, continue the attack on the large Neuroi and don't hold back. Patricia, follow me we taking out the arrows"

Takei charges towards the arrow shape Neuroi who now have formed four V-shaped formations and are charging towards the battle. Takei and Patricia open fire on separate formations. Takei targets and destroys the tip of the formation she was targeting and she quickly destroys the one two the Neuroi's right before the incoming wave of beams forces her to put up her shield.

Patricia is having similar results as Takei looks over to check on her. She's managed to destroy three of the Neuroi but now they have her pinned down too. The beams on Takei lets up for a second and she doesn't miss the chance to strike back.

Takei climbs up above the Neuroi firing the whole time destroying one of them. She then dives down towards the group that has Patricia easily destroying four more Neuroi in her dive. Patricia quickly returns the favour by destroy to Neuroi that got on Takei's tail.

"That's half of them" Patricia says over the radio.

"Yeah now let's go get the rest" Takei replies as she sees the remaining ten Neuroi head away from the two of them towards the large Neuroi.

"I'm right behind you" Patricia replies before the two witches head out in pursuit of the Neuroi.

"Target the right group I got the left" Takei orders as she fires and brings down one of the Neuroi in her group. Within second the two of them have destroyed all of the airborne Neuroi and are returning to the main battle. "Good work, now let's go help destroy those ground Neuroi"

As the return the battle is still raging on. Four of the ground Neuroi has been destroyed but the large Neuroi and two smaller versions of it remain. The large Neuroi has taken heavy damage from Angela's exploding bullets and from the looks of it the lager Neuroi has a slower regeneration speed the others as the barrel they shoot off earlier still hasn't fully reformed.

Takei and Patricia dive full speed at one of the small ground Neuroi guns blazing catching it by surprise as their bullets rips into its back and destroys its core. At the same time Takei watches Jane destroy the other small Neuroi out of the corner of her eye.

"Everyone regroup on me" Takei orders over the radio as she watches the small Neuroi shatter.

"What's the plan?" Nakajima asks out of breath.

"I believe the core of the large Neuroi is in the centre of the cube concentrate you fire there and let's hope I'm right about the core as this is our last shot before we have to return to base" Takei answers and every scatters right away and takes up firing positions above the Neuroi. "Open fire!"

The witches unleash a hail storm of lead directly into the centre of the Neuroi quickly creating a dent in the centre. In less than a minute Takei s proven right as the core is exposed and destroyed by the relentless storm of bullets. The large Neuroi explodes into millions if not billions of shinny bright fragments that fall to earth all over the place.

"How did you know the core was there?" Angela asks as the last fragment falls into the sea.

"I didn't I just guessed it would be in the most secure place and all the edges have already been destroyed leaving that the only place it could be" Takei answers watching the sea settle after have Neuroi fragments splash down all over it. "Now let's return to base before we run out of energy"

* * *

The Citadel

Alex Franco

Alex leads the group into to the Citadel through the main gate. It used to be a lot harder to get into the Citadel for people outside the Brotherhood but after the actions of the Lone Wanderer Elder Lyons started to make except for to outsiders who come recommended to him by Brotherhood squads.

The Citadel used to be called the Pentagon and be the American's military headquarters but now it's a ruined building fortified and used by the Brotherhood as they work to rid the Capital Wasteland of the Super mutants.

Over the years since the Brotherhood moved in the Citadel they have made a lot of repairs and modifications to the build to improvements its defences. They added steel plates to the buildings outside, sniper positions on the roof and scattered sentry guns around the perimeter of the building.

"Someplace you got here" Hanna says as she walks up next to Alex. "Do you really think this place well hold out against the Enclave?"

"It has in the past so there's no reason why it shouldn't now "Alex replies as they enter the main courtyard of the Citadel.

The courtyard is filled with Initiate's training. They fill the courtyard practising shooting, hand to hand combat and doing push ups and sit ups. Elder Lyons and his daughter are already there to meet them.

Elder Lyons is an old man with more white hair in his thick beard then on his head. His eyes are so pale that he looks like he's blind and his face is covered in wrinkles. He's probably one of the most famous Elder in the Brotherhood as he struck crippling blows to the Enclave and the Super mutants and was the first Elder to help the people living in the Wasteland which inspired the other Elders to follow his lead and help the people a few years later.

His daughter Sarah stands beside him. Her short blond hair flows freely in the wind. Her eyes are just as pale as her father's her skin is more tanned. She' just a good of warrior as he father and is now leading the Lyons Pride the elite squad of the Capital Wasteland chapter of the Brotherhood.

"It's been a long time Alex" Elder Lyon says as he approaches Alex. "It was a shame to have lost you right before the Battle of Project Purity"

"I wish I could of stayed but you know that mission was just as important as recovering the Purifier" Alex replies as he and Elda Lyon give each other a quick friendly hug.

"Yeah I know but we could have used you in the battle and the following weeks" Elder Lyon says as he and Alex break apart from their hug. "Sarah was in a coma at the end of the battle and we needed someone like you to lead the Pride until she recovered"

"Yeah a chance to fight amongst the Pride doesn't come along very often" Alex tells him as he removes his helmet.

"Well you know you're always welcome to join us" Sarah tells him as the two of them hug.

"Yeah but I got my own squad now" Alex says as he turns his attentions back to Elder Lyon.

"So what brings you here because scout reports aren't usually collected by Knights like you Alex?" Elder Lyon asks.

"Well it's a long story" Alex replies as Minna and Sakamoto steps up beside him. "It's probable best if we discuss this in your office"

"Ok let's go" Elder Lyon replies as he turns and leads the group inside. "Sarah I'll see you when you return"

"Yeah I'll be back in a day or two" Sarah replies as she peels off of the group towards another building.

"I take it your having problems here too" Alex asks as they enter the building.

"Yeah Super mutants are attacking GNR again" Elder Lyon answers.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Five minutes later Alex, Sakamoto and Minna are sat opposite Elder Lyon in his office. The rest of the witches and Brotherhood squad are waiting in the room down the hall as the office is too small for the whole group to fit in. they have to wait there until the meeting is over in case they are needed to speak.

Elder Lyon's office is filled with books and behind Lyon is a giant painted symbol of the Brotherhood. Most of the books on the shelves are history books about pre-war Tec and battles. There are no windows in the room and the only light comes from a buzzing light hanging down from the ceiling.

"So who are you ladies?" Elder Lyon calmly asks them.

"We are with the 501st Joint Fighter Wing sir" Minna tells him. "We are from a parallel world where mankind is at war with a nearly unstoppable enemy called the Neuroi"

"We don't know how we got to your world but we know it was the Neuroi who sent us here for some reason" Sakamoto adds.

"Well to be honest you aren't the first person to come from your world into ours" Elder Lyon tells them.

"What do you mean by that?" Sakamoto asks confused at his last statement.

"Well a group of people showed up near here saying similar stories about the Neuroi and the war in your world" Elder Lyon answers as he takes out a file from under his desk and hands it to Minna. "I think they were a group of scientists and they kept going on about some kind of mistake they made"

Minna and Sakamoto flicks through the file and come to a halt at a face they both recognize. The picture is only of his head and he isn't well groomed but it is clear to both her and Sakamoto that the person in the photo is Dr Miyafuji.

"When did these people show up?" Minna asks him.

"About two years ago one of our patrols found them and they said they have been walking around the Wasteland for weeks before that" Elder Lyon replies as he takes back the file. "It's hard to say how long they've been here"

"Well do you know if they are still alive?" Sakamoto asks him hopping that at least Dr Miyafuji is still alive. She can't wait to tell Yoshika about him if he is. She can almost see the joy in Yoshika's face as she tells her that her dad is still alive and she knows where to find him.

* * *

Secret Research Facility

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula lay on top of her bed staring up at the ceiling above her after a sleepless night. She couldn't rest her mind about her sister. She was up all night thinking and rethinking everything that has happened to her sister and then comparing it to what happened to what happened to Dr Miyafuji during the accident.

She has come to the conclusion that that bright light is the key to the whole thing and has something to do with their deaths. That women mechanic knows more than she's letting on about the deaths of the 501st members and Ursula is determined to track her down and ask her a few questions. She has to as it's the next logical step to take in her investigation.

She was just about to get up and begin her search when the base alarm suddenly comes on filling the base with its deafening sound. Ursula against all common sense runs to her bedroom window to get a better look at what's going on.

Outside her window she can see a large Neuroi about the size of a two floored house walking towards the front gates of the base lasers blazing. The Neuroi as four short legs and a red dot covered body the shape of half a sphere. The Neuroi has already caused carnage on the base. The guard house by the gate is a blaze and the watch tower across the road from the guard house is nothing more than a pile of burning wood.

The Neuroi fires a beam that hits the directly below Ursula's bedroom sending her flying backwards and hitting her door so had that it knocks the air out of her lungs and breaks her door down. She's lying in the hallway lucky to be alive, lucky she's a witch as her shield blocked all the glass that shattered in her face before it could cut into her skin.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" A Karlsland soldier from the base asks as he helps her stand.

"Yes I'm fine thank you" Ursula replies as she wipes the dust off her clothes and takes another look at the advancing Neuroi through the freshly made hole in her wall. Two more Neuroi that look exactly the same as the first are walking up the road behind the first one. Then a fourth appears behind them.

"I've been ordered to get you out of her so please come with me ma'am" The soldier says as she grabs Ursula's arm and starts to drag her down the hall. "There's a plane waiting for you on the runway out back"

Unfortunately as the exit the building they see that two other Neuroi have attacked the small airfield behind the research facility and both transport planes and all four fighters lay wrecked on the ground. They make it outside just in time to see a Neuroi beam hit the fuel storage tanks causing them to erupt in flames and spread an inferno across the runway.

Suddenly the solder falls against Ursula knocking her to the ground. At first she doesn't know why he falls but as she turns round to ask him she sees a sight that makes her blood freeze and her heart stop beating. The decapitated body of the soldier lies on top of her and standing over her with the soldiers head still in its hands is the human shaped Neuroi.

Ursula quickly pushes the dead man's body off of her and starts to crawl away keeping her eye's on the Neuroi ready to counter anything it tries. The Neuroi keeps up with her as it matches its walking speed with Ursula's crawling speed almost toying with her and prolonging the finishing blow.

But then Ursula runs out of room and backs up into a tree. Her heart starts to beat so hard that in practically slams itself into her rib cage. Sweat covers her entire body as her eyes widen on the Neuroi waiting for the final blow that will end her life. She watches in horror as the Neuroi gets nearer and nearer the whole time she tries to stop her shaking hand. Finally the Neuroi reaches her and Ursula watches it open up its chest revealing a multi-coloured core inside. That's the last thing she remembers before a bright light engulfs her and she blacks out.


	13. Survival

Unknown

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula woke up in a ditch at the side of a dusty road. She looks around at her surroundings trying to get her bearing's but she only sees the ruins of a city around her and no sign of life anywhere. Up in the sky the clouds block out the moon making it imposable to tell the time but judging from the darkness it's clear that its night time.

Suddenly a loud smashing sound like metal on metal echoes from behind her, she quickly turns around and once gain comes face to face with the human shaped Neuroi which is just sitting there on a car watching her with those bright red eyes. But as soon as she notices it the Neuroi shoots up into the sky and vanishes into the darkness.

Ursula knows she can't stay here in the open. The night is freezing and her bare legs are already going numb from the cold. The only problem is that she's afraid of the Neuroi that sent her here and followed her through to where ever this place is. Her fear has paralyzed her and no matter how hard she tries' she can't get her body to move.

"Come on Ursula move your legs" She tells herself and with that motivation she is finally free of her inability to move and is now heading for one of the ruined buildings for shelter and warmth.

She climbs into a bedroom through a broken window. She immediately jumps into the bed and wraps the blanket around her body desperately trying to warm her frozen body. She looks around the room to see if there was anything she could use to start a fire with. She spots the curtains on the floor by her bed and she quickly grabs them. She then checks the rest of the room and spots he first good thing she has seen in this city a box of matches on the dressing table right next to a packet of cigarettes.

She hurriedly set the curtains on fire hopping the concrete floor will stop the fire from spreading. The whole time she is setting the fire she is shivering and shaking from the cold and desperately fighting the urge to abandon setting the fire and jump back under the blanket for warmth. Finally after a few attempts her shaking hands finally manage to strike the match and the curtains go up in flames instantly warming the room. Ursula quickly jumps back into bed and wraps the blanket around her once again smiling in triumph as she watches the fire take hold and feels it warm her cold body.

"Now get some sleep your need your strength tomorrow" Ursula whispered to herself as she closes her eyes and lets herself fall into a deep slumber.

* * *

The Citadel

Miyafuji Yoshika

"Yoshika that's great news" Lynne says as she gives Yoshika a hug.

"Don't worry we'll find him before we leave and bring him back with us" Gertrud says as she puts her hand on Yoshika's shoulder.

Yoshika just sits on the edge of her chair in a stunned silence as the news that her dad is alive and trapped in this world sits in. she doesn't know what to say or how to reply to her friend's comments or Lynne's hug. Everything just feels like a dream to her. For years she thought her father was dead and now out of nowhere she learns that he's alive and was only trapped in this world.

"Yoshika what's wrong you should be happy?" Lucchini asks as she sits down next to Yoshika.

"Nothing I just don't know what to say" Yoshika answers.

"Well it's a lot to take in" Minna says. "Let's just give her a chance to take in the news"

Everyone but Lynne leaves Yoshika's side and starts to talk amongst themselves. Lynne stays at her side like she always does. Yoshika is always grateful for Lynne because of that. No matter how bad the situation gets or how badly Yoshika feel's Lynne is always right by her to help her get through it.

Yoshika just sits on the chair trying to absorb the news that her father's alive. Elder Lyon said he'll have the Brotherhood scribes check their records to see where the last pace he was seen. She just sits there watching the floor as she thinks about what she'll say to him when she finds him, what he'll say to her when she finds him and what he'll think about her becoming a Strike Witch and using her magic to help people.

"Hey Lynne do you think he'll remember me?" Yoshika asks as the thought of him forgetting her starts to eat away at her thoughts.

"Don't be silly he'll never forget you" Lynne replies as she puts her arm around Yoshika's shoulder. Yoshika's head automatically comes down to rest on Lynne's shoulder. "You know already that he'll remember you so don't get worried over noting"

"You right I'm just being stupid" Yoshika says as she relaxes.

"What do you think your say when you meet him" Lynne asks.

"I don't know what I'll say" Yoshika answers as she thinks about the moment when she'll finally get to see her father again.

* * *

Alex Franco

Alex was still inside Elder Lyon's office speaking to the Elder. The meeting involving the witches is over. So far he's agreed to let the witches stay here and help locate the other people from their world. But now the meeting has turned to the Enclave.

"We'll they have finally got their act together" Alex says. "New York was a real wakeup call"

"I know I lost a few good friends when the city was lost" Elder Lyon replies as he shakes his head. "The Capital Wasteland will be next, and then Fort Excel and finally the whole East Coast would fall under their control if we don't do something"

"Well getting that robot of yours up and running will be a good start" Alex says. "How are the repairs going on that thing by the way?"

"They're going well we should have it up and running any day now and are scribes found some data files that will make it more accurate and get rid of those annoying rants" Elder Lyon answers.

"Yeah those rants should never have been put on that thing" Alex states as he and the Elder laugh at the memories of Liberty Primes ranting charges.

"So anyway let's get back on topic" Elder Lyon finally says "Do you trust those girls?"

"Yes I do, I've only known them for a few days and don't know much about them but two things I do know is that they are not our enemy's and as long as we help them get home they will help us"

"Well if they've earned your trust them I'll trust them" Elder Lyon says. "By the way the Lone Wanderer is coming here tomorrow"

"That's good but I would of though Sarah would want to be here when he arrives" Alex says as she leans back in his chair. "I thought those two were engaged"

"Yeah they are but this mission came up at the last minute and her squad are the only ones that can get it done" Elder Lyon answers. "He'll still be here when she returns anyway"

* * *

Unknown

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula wakes up to the sound of glass breaking under foot. It sounds close like the person making the sound is right outside the building. Ursula doesn't know what to do, whether she should go out and see who ever it is making that noise or hide in here until they pass. At the back of her mind the fear that it's the Neuroi come to finish her off begins to eat away at her and she starts to shake with fear. Unfortunately the bed begins to squeak under her shaking body and the sound of footsteps stop.

Then they start again but heading right for her tis time. The fear she has been feeling up until now intensifies as the sound of footsteps gets closer and closer. She can no longer control her shaking as she imagines the Neuroi climbing into the room and slowly walking towards her before delivering the finishing blow that will end her life.

But instead of a Neuroi a hooded man climbs in through the same window she did. He doesn't say a word and just looks at her cowering under the blanket. He pulls down his hood and smiles at Ursula. He has short black hair and light stubble on his chin and cheeks, his eyes are silver. He is where a grey hooded jacket with a black vest on top. He is wear blue jeans and black boots. Across his shoulder is some kind of rifle and on his waist he has a revolver holstered on one side and a large knife on the other.

"You don't have to be afraid I'm not going to hurt you" He says in a quiet calm voice. "Are you lost because if you are I can take you back home?"

"You can't take me back home; this creature used some kind of teleportation device to send me here, so I can't go back" Ursula answers trying to calm herself down. "I don't even know where I am or how to get back home anyway"

"Well you can't stay in the ruins it's too dangerous with all the Super mutants running around" He tells her. "Do you need help getting out?"

"Why do you want to help me?" Ursula asks trying to get an idea what this guy is after.

"I just seen what the mutants do to the humans they've found far too many times and I don't want to let that happen to you" He says.

"Well ok you can lead me…" Ursula begins to say accepting his help but before she can finish her sentence her stomach loudly growls in complaint at the lack of breakfast and dinner she hasn't eaten. Ursula's face turns bright red with embarrassment and the man lets out a slight giggle.

"Here you can have this it sounds like you're hungry" He says as he offers her a bar of chocolate.

"Thank you" Ursula replies as she takes the chocolate bar from him. "My names Ursula Hartmann what's yours?"

"I'm Ryan James Francis but most people call me the Lone Wanderer nice to meet you Ursula" He says with another smile.

"Nice to meet you too" Ursula replies as she opens up the chocolate bar.

* * *

The Citadel

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

Lynne sat on the edge of her bed looking out of the window at the rising sun. The river that separates the Citadel and the ruins of D.C looks almost too perfect. The blue water looks so cool and refreshing as it gentle drifts down the river. The only thing that seems wrong with the river is the fact that there is nobody fishing from it or any bird resting on top of it like the rivers Lynne is used to seeing back home in Britannia.

Lynne quickly turns her gaze from the river to her feet on the cold concert floor as the feeling of homesickness begins to flood her body. She try's in vain to stop thoughts of her family from her mind as she feels herself on the verge of crying as she thinks about the possibility that she'll never see them again. She looks up to the bed opposite her and see's Yoshika's beautiful sleeping face. She starts to cheer up at the sight of Yoshika as she thinks of how because of coming to this world Yoshika and she could finally share their feels for each other and Lynne could tell her how she felt.

Lynne feeling restless gets up, plants a little gentle kiss on Yoshika's cheek causing Yoshika to smile in her sleep before she walks outside. She walks through the corridor towards the courtyard and after taking only one wrong turn she arrive in the courtyard and is greeted by the chill of the morning air.

"Is something wrong?" A voice asks behind her. Lynne quickly turns around and finds Sakamoto standing right behind her holding a metal pole she's been using to practice her sword swings since the witches arrived in this world. "You're not normally up this early and when you do get up Yoshika's normally at your side"

"No I'm fine I'm just feeling a little homesick and couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk" Lynne answers trying to keep her voice above the roar of the wind which has started to become a lot faster and stronger.

"Well its ok to feel these things Lynne" Sakamoto tells her as she takes a step forward and places a hand on her shoulder. "We've all felt this way since we arrived here, everyone in our squad has friends and family back home w miss"

"Yeah I…" Lynne begins to say as a scream fills the air coming from the area where the witches are sleeping. "What was that?"

"I don't know but it doesn't sound good" Sakamoto replies as both her and Lynne look back to the direction of the scream. "I'll go check it out and I want you to go get Yoshika in case someone is hurt"

"Yes ma'am" Lynne says as she follows Sakamoto back into the building.

Lynne finds Yoshika sat up in her bed rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Lynne enters their room. Yoshika yawns and continues to rub her eyes as she slowly gets up out of bed. Her hair is mess and needs combing but even in the state it's in now Lynne still thinks it's beautiful.

"Yoshika you need to come with me someone might have been hurt" Lynne says as she takes Yoshika's hand and gently starts to pull her along.

"Lynne what happened?" who was that who just screamed?" Yoshika asks as Lynne leads her into the hallway outside of their room.

"I don't know Sakamoto went to see and sent me to come and get you" Lynne replies as the reach the room where the scream came from. The room isn't hard to find as all of the witches have gathered round the door trying to get a good look of what's happening inside.

"What happened is somebody hurt?" Yoshika asks as she finally snaps out of her spleenful state and regains her usual calm self.

"Don't worry the brave Barkhorn just saw a rat and wake up the entire planet with her screaming" Shirley says with a laugh. Looking around at everyone Lynne notices the smiles on their faces and as see takes a look inside the room she can see Minna and Sakamoto talking to a red faced Gertrude with Erica giggling behind her friend.

* * *

One hour later

Mio Sakamoto

"I would never have thought Barkhorn was afraid of rats or would ever scream like that" Sakamoto says to Minna as they eat breakfast.

"I know I've never seen her that way before but I guess everyone has their fears and weaknesses" Minna replies as she pushes back her empty plate. "Even so I never thought I'd ever hear her scream like that"

The witches have been eating in a dim poorly lit dining hall eating whatever they chose from the selection of meat and canned food on the table's f to the side of the room. Nearly everyone has finished eating and left leaving just Mina and Sakamoto with a group of three Initiate's preparing for a day of training. Gertrud was the only one of the witches not to eat in the dining hall choosing instead to take her breakfast back to her room.

"Yeah and I don't think Erica and Shirley will let her forget it any time soon" Sakamoto says as she thinks about the jokes they already play on her. "I have a feeling we are going to see a lot of fake rats around the base if we ever make it back home"

"Yeah I know what you mean" Minna agrees. "I can't imagine the amount of times we'll hear her scream in the coming weeks because of those two"

"So do you think these people can help us?" Sakamoto asks as she also finishes her breakfast and pushes her empty plate against Minna's.

"We'll from what I've seen they are certainly more advanced they anyone back in our world so I believe there's a chance that they will help us and they may have the ability to send us back home" Minna answers as she thinks about the advanced technology she's seen since arriving here. "Providing the Enclave doesn't wipe them out first"

"Yeah they have already stuck a serious blow along the East Coast" Sakamoto says. "It won't be long until this place is attacked"

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika was sat inside Elder Lyon's office with Lynne as they wait for the report to be brought up to them contain information about her father. She has been sat in silence desperately holding onto Lynne's hand for support as she tries not to think about the report containing anything bad. Finally a young girl wear a red rob who looks about six or seven at the most knocks on the door before entering and handing Elder Lyon a yellow file.

"Well it appears your fathers at Rivet City" Elder Lyon tells her as he hands her a piece of paper. "He's working in the science lab there run by Dr Li"

"Really where's Rivet city?" Yoshika asks as she looks over the paper Elder Lyon gave her. Her eye's rest on a picture of her dads smiling face that's covered in dirt, his hair is long and messy and a thick beard has taken over his lower face. "Please I have to go see him"

"Ok Rivet City is about a few hours east of here on the coast" Elder Lyon tells her. "It's a giant aircraft carrier so you can miss it"

"Thank you" Yoshika says as he stands up and prepares to leave.

"I would wait if I was you the path there is extremely dangerous" Elder Lyon warns her before she leaves. "There's a squad leaving to resupply our forces there leaving after lunch, you can go with them if you want"

"Ok I will thank you" Yoshika says as she struggles to contain her excitement. "Where should I meet them?"

"What by the man gate at one o'clock" Elder Lyon answers. "I'll let them know about this"

"I'm going too" Lynne says.

"Ok no problem and if any of your friends want to go with you that shouldn't be a problem ever" Elder Lyon tells her.

* * *

Erica Hartmann

Erica was sat wither depressed friend Gertrude on the roof looking out over the ruins, Gertrude has never been this quiet before or screamed like she did earlier since Erica met first her. Everyone else seems to be doing something but them. Hanna is flirting with Brotherhood men and women, Eila and Sanya is playing chest, Shirley, Lucchini and some of the Brotherhood members are playing cards and Sakamoto is training while Minna watches and Perrine spies on her from an upstairs window. While they all do those things Erica is stuck with the job of cheering up her embarrassed and depressed friend. Gertrud is looking down over the edge of the roof looking as though she might jump.

"Cheer up Trude everyone's afraid of something" Erica says. "Remember how scared of spiders that Orussian witch was while we were in North Africa"

"Yeah but she was just a child and never expected or trained to control her fears like I have been" Gertrud replies still looking over the edge. "I should never have screamed like that"

"Yeah I know you've trained but fear isn't something that can be controlled only conquered" Erica says.

"If you say so" Gertrud replies in her same depressed tone.

"Well if you…" Erica began to say but a commotion at the gate stops her and grabs both hers and Gertrud's attention. "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know but isn't that…" Gertrud started saying but Erica has already started to run towards the gate and doesn't hear the end of her friend question. She's only focused on confirming what she thought she saw in the centre of the growing group at the gate.

She fights her way through the crowed and manages to squeeze her way to the front and she sees her. She sees her sisters stood beside a hooded man confirming what she saw from the rooftop.


	14. Emergence

The Citadel

Ursula Hartmann

See her sister again was a real surprise for Ursula. She always believed she was alive but she never expected to see here or find her so quick. That bright light she saw most of been the same bright light that was reported over the 501st base and inside Dr Miyafuji's lab. The shock of seeing her sister starts to fade and is replaced by a growing happiness and relief that her sister was alive.

"Erica you're ok" Ursula says as she tightly hugs her sister and warm tears start to roll down her cheek. "I never thought you were dead"

"I'm fine sis you don't have to cry" Erica replies as she tightly hugs her sister back.

"I'm sorry I'm just so happy to see you" Ursula says as she breaks apart from the hug and starts to wipe the tears from her face. "Are the rest of your squad here?"

"Yeah also Hanna's here and Dr Miyafuji but we don't know where he is" Erica answers as Gertrud walks up behind her.

"Hi Trude" Ursula says as Gertrud joins them.

"Hi Ursula" Gertrud replies not acting like herself.

"Is something wrong?" Ursula asks.

"No everything's fine" Gertrud answers while her cheeks faintly turns red. Her cheeks and the tone of her voice only reinforce Ursula's thoughts that something's wrong with her.

"She's just a little embarrassed since everyone heard her scream this morning over a rat" Erica tells her sister giggling making Gertrud's cheeks turn bright red. "Isn't that right Trude"

"Shut up Hartmann" Gertrud snaps back before she storms off.

"I didn't think she could scream" Ursula says to Erica who's still giggling quietly to herself.

"Me never but it happened" Erica replied.

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

"I'm going with you" Sakamoto says as Yoshika and Lynne finishes telling them about their meeting with Elder Lyon.

Yoshika finally looks happy about her dad being alive. Before she just looked shocked and stood there speechless and motionless but now she's overwhelmed with joy and that huge smile on her face doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. She's been this way since she learned the location of her dad and was given away to go and see him. Minna just given her approval to go but seeing Yoshika's joy and remembering her sneaking off before Sakamoto believes that she would of went with or without permission from Minna.

"Ok, I'll go tell everyone else what's happening" Minna tells them before she leaves.

"I'll meet you by the gate when it's time to leave" Sakamoto says to Lynne and Yoshika before she runs after Minna. She finds her and catches up with her at the end of the hallway just as she turns the corner. "What will you and the others do while we are gone?"

"Help the Brotherhood while trying to find a way back home" Minna answers before nervously adding. "Be careful out there Mio. If the Enclave attack please try and avoid them your powers are too weak"

"I know my powers are weak but that won't stop me from fighting them if they arrive while we are out there" Sakamoto replies causing Minna to worry about her. Sakamoto sensing Minna's worry leans in and planets a quick kiss on her lips. "Don't worry I am not easy to kill"

"Yeah the amount of times you cheated death proves that" Minna says. "But that's what makes me worry about you. No matter how dangerous the situation is you still go and fight"

"It's my duty as a witch to go" Sakamoto tells her. "And you know I am not cut out for office work like you"

"I do and I believe you'll go crazy trying to do my job" Minna replies with a small smile.

"Yeah if I don't kill myself first but that's way I have you" Sakamoto says as she wraps her arms around Minna's low back. Minna responds by wrapping her arms around Sakamoto's neck and pulling her closer until their lips meet in a kiss, their lip part ways allowing their tongs to explore each other's mouths and enter a battle for dominance over the others tongue and mouth.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud is in the courtyard where the Brotherhood is training. She's been hitting a spare punch bag over and over again ever since she stormed off from Erica and Ursula. Every punch she throw she puts all her anger and embarrassment behind it, finally with one last punch she snaps the bag free of its chains and slamming into the wall a meter or two behind it.

"Barkhorn are you alright?" Yoshika asks as she and Lynne run over to her.

"I'm fine you don't have to worry about me" Gertrud says as she turns to them.

"But your hands are covered in blood" Yoshika points out as she reaches her. Barkhorn looks down at her hand to see them dripping with blood from cuts on her knuckles. She didn't even notice or feel the blood on her hands as she through punch after punch at the bag. She was too angry at the teasing Erica was giving her that she could feel nothing but anger when she hit the bag. "Hold out your hands while and I'll heal them for you"

Gertrud complies without a word and watches Yoshika grow a pair of brown dog ears grow out of her head and her hands glow blue as she starts to use hear healing magic. Within seconds the bleed stops and her cuts start to heal.

"Thank you" Gertrud says as Yoshika finishes her healing. "What are you so happy about anyway"

"Oh I know where my dad is and I, Lynne and Sakamoto are going with a Brotherhood squad to go see him" Yoshika says smiling.

"I'm going with you is well" Gertrud quickly tells them seeing a chance to escape Erica's mocking.

* * *

504th Base

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

Takei and Patricia were just returning to base after patrolling the south coast of Britannia. Their patrol was standard and nothing out of the ordinary happened. On the runway Dominica and Jane were waiting in their Striker Units for clearance for take-off. Ever since the Neuroi destroyed some research centre Command has made it mandatory to have at least two witches from each squad in the sky at all times.

Takei can understand why because both that research centre and the 501st base was attacked by sudden surprise attacks and overwhelmed in minutes. Takei and Command are both determined not to let that happen again.

"Welcome back" Jane calls out waving from the side of the runway in front of the hanger.

"Good luck out there" Takei replies returning their wave. "The winds a bit strong by the coast at low altitude so stay high"

"We will" Jane says as she and Dominica begins to take-off. Takei and Patricia watch the two Liberion witches disappear into the clouds before they enter the hanger and take off their Strikers.

"I have to go see Federica so go on without me" Takei tells Patricia.

"Ok I'll see you later" Patricia replies before she walks off.

Takei walks out of the hanger and through the base towards the Commanders office. The walk normally only takes a few minutes but Takei can't help but admire the beautiful flowed fields that surround the base slowing her pass to a crawl, when she finally does arrive the journey took nearly twice as long to complete as normal.

She walks into the Commanders office to find Federica hunched over her desk busy filling out paperwork. Her office is filled with books and pictures that she's collected since the wars began.

"I'm back from patrol" Takei says as she walks up from to the desk. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Welcome back" Frederica replies as she looks up from her paper work. "And I wanted to tell you that I have to leave for high Command tomorrow leaving you in charge for the next few days. Also our squads getting awarded in two weeks' time for destroying that large Neuroi at some ball the military is throwing for morale so can you tell the squad for me I have a lot of paper work to catch up on before I leave for Command"

"Ok, at least something good is finally happening after all the blows e Neuroi have dealt us recently" Takei replies smiling. "I think everyone we be happy to hear this and it's just what we need right now"

"We won't be the only squad there though" Frederica tells her. "The 506th will be joining us there"

"Great I hate those nobles" Takei moans as the smile leaves her face.

"Yeah but you know they get invited to every party in the world thrown by the military because of their families" Frederica says.

* * *

The Citadel

Miyafuji Yoshika

After lunch Yoshika, Lynne Gertrud and Sakamoto waited at the gates of the Citadel with the Brotherhood squad as they load supplies into to a pair of two headed cows headed cows called Brahmin. The supplies they are taking to Rivet City are manly medical supplies in preparation for the coming Enclave attack. Lynne and Sakamoto have their rifles and Gertrud her LMG for the trip in case they run into any trouble.

The day is turning out to be quiet nice as Yoshika looks up into the sky all she can see is bright blue with white fluffy clouds floating across it. The wind and heat has also died down making the day a perfect summers day.

"We ready to go if you are" The leader of the Brotherhood says as his squad finish loading the Brahmin.

"Let's get going then" Sakamoto says and the group heads out through the gate and into the Capital Wasteland.

They cross an old bridge that's barely standing and looks and sounds like it could full down at any minute. Every step Yoshika takes across the bridge makes her feel uneasy. The bridge is covered in holes and when you have to walk on a piece of metal spanning the gape the metal creaks and bends. The surface of the bridge is also filled with the wrecks of cars and destroyed street lights.

On the other side of the bridge they follow an old cracked road through the maze of ruined buildings zigzagging through rubble, destroyed cars and potholes. The city is extremely quiet with only the sound of the wind occasionally howling through the buildings and the moos of the Brahmin filling the air with noise.

"It's so sad that the world ended up in ruins" Lynne quietly mutters to Yoshika. "I'm sure this place used to be full of life and happiness before it was destroyed"

"Yeah and the rest of the world ended this way too" Yoshika replies as she looks into a passing car which has a skeleton in every seat. "I don't know how anyone could have done this to the world or even imagine a weapon capable of doing so"

"I know but whatever did this most have been extremely powerful" Lynne says as the round a corner putting them on the river bank. Across the river the Citadel stands in clear view and Yoshika can see and hear the main gate squeak close.

* * *

Ryan James Francis "Lone Wanderer"

Rayan was sat in the briefing room with Alex and several other squad leaders waiting for Elder Lyon to begin. The briefing room already built for this purpose before the war by the American government. The seats are all comfortable and have a desk with a built-in computer screen that the Brotherhood has restored to working order. Elder Lyon stands at the front of the room just to the side of a giant computer screen that is currently showing a map of the Capital Wasteland.

"As you all know by now the Enclave has captured New York and it won't be long until they arrive here" Elder Lyon begins the briefing and his words cause the room to feel with chatter. He waits a few minutes till the chatter dies away before continuing. "Yesterday I despatched the Lyon's Pride on a recon mission to observe an Enclave outpost. After they report back in I plan on destroying that outpost and then searching it for any Intel on the Enlace planned attack on us"

"What if they attack us before then?" A knight Captain next to Rayan asks.

"That leads me to my next part of the briefing. Captain's Drake and Lucy I want both of you to take your squads to the Jefferson Memorial and defend Project Purity. Captain Tony left this morning to help defend Rivet City and Finally Rayan I'm assigning you to Captain Alex's squad and act as a response unit" Elder Lyon explains and zooms in on the map to every location he mentioned as he said them. "Finally Captain's Frank, Joe and Amy will stay here and defend the Citadel with the Initiate"

"Yes sir" Everyone replies in the room.

"Any questions…" Elder Lyon begins to ask but an alarm cuts him off. "What is it? Understood stick to protocol"

"What's happened Elder?" Someone asks.

"The Enclave are nearly here, radar suggest they are ten minutes away and approaching fast. Captain's Drake and Lucy leave immediately to reinforce our forces there everyone else take up defensives positions" Elder Lyon says as everyone gets to their feet. "Good luck everyone"

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna was in the courtyard with Erica and Ursula when the alarm sounded and Brotherhood members started to run round arming themselves. Eila, Sanya, Lucchini and Shirley quickly run to Minna followed not long after by Perrine.

"What's going on?" Perrine asks as she joins the group.

"I don't know but judging from what's happening around use I believe the Enclave is here or nearly here" Minna answers as a sicking worry for Sakamoto floods her body. "Everyone get your guns and be ready they are probable going to attack this place"

Everyone runs back to their rooms where they left their weapons, within a few minutes they are all armed and back in the courtyard. Minna looks around to see if there is something they can do to help and she spots Alex and his squad assembling at the other side of the courtyard.

"Alex what's going on?" Minna asks as she runs over to him.

"The Enclave is going to be here any minute now" Alex replies as he loads his weapon.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Minna asks him as the roar of propeller engines start to be heard in the distance.

"If you want to help you can join us up on the roof" Alex says.

* * *

Dean Camron

Dean takes up position on the roof in-between Jayson and Perrine facing south towards the library. They only just go into position when black dots start to appear on the horizon. The Enclave has come in force to the Capital Wasteland. The whole horizon is filled with black dots and the sound of propellers is becoming deafening.

As the Enclave gets closer the more detailed they become. Now instead of black dots Dean can see Vertibird's heading towards him. They are advancing with a line of four Attack Vertibird's taking the lead and two lines of six Transport Vertibird's following behind.

"We're in for one hell of a long day" Jayson says as he watches the Enclave Vertibird's fly towards him.

"A tough one too" Dean replies as the Attack Vertibird's split off from the formation and begin rocket attacks on the Jefferson Memorial. "A real tough day"


	15. The Battle of DC

The Citadel

Hanna-Justina Marseille

Hanna watches from the roof of the Citadel as the Enclave's rockets set the Jefferson Memorial on fire. Two anti-aircraft guns opened fire at the Enclave aircraft when they first arrived from the memorial but they were both destroyed before they could bring down a single Enclave aircraft, now four of their aircrafts land at the memorial and the rocket firing one's head this way with another four aircraft behind them.

Four AA guns opens fire and brings down one of the aircraft while another one goes down after a well-placed shot from Jayson with his rocket launcher. But the victory is sort lived as within seconds the remaining Enclave craft destroy all four AA guns before they start to rain down rockets onto the Citadel.

It's hard to describe how it feels to be at the receiving end of that barrage. To describe how the rockets leave you breathless and your ears ringing after every hit. All Hanna can do is grit her teeth and ride out the storm helpless to stop it. Finally the raining rockets stop and everyone can catch their breaths.

The aftermath of the rockets is devastating. Several fires burn in the Citadel and the cries of the wounded fills the air blocking out the sound of the Enclave propellers. Flash backs to the destruction left behind after Neuroi attacks fills Hanna's mind as the ringing in her ears finally ends.

"Their landing" Someone shouts out and Hanna looks to see three of the aircraft with their propellers now pointing upwards landing vertically. The fourth by the looks of it is landing on the bridge by the front gate. The other four aircraft have landed in the ruins and the two remaining rocket firing aircraft move to support them.

Hanna fires her rifle at the first Enclave soldier she sees climbing out the back of the landed aircraft. He's wearing some kind of metal armour and helmet that completely covers his body leaving no sign of skin visible. Hanna's bullet hits him dead between the eyes but her bullet just bonces harmlessly of his helmet only causing the man's head to jolt back slightly. She quickly fires again this time hitting him in the left eye and he goes down to the ground dead.

"Nice shot" A Brotherhood member beside Hanna says as he fires a laser beam into another Enclave soldier's chest turning him to ash.

"Thank you" Hanna says as she takes aim at the next Enclave soldier she sees.

"Try using this" The Brotherhood member says as he hands her a laser rifle from his dead comrade lying next to him. "It's more affective against their armour"

Hanna takes the rifle and aims at her target. She fires and finds that the laser rifle is dead accurate and has next to no recoil as her laser beam hits her target in the forehead killing him instantly.

"I think I like this gun" Hanna says as she watches her target drop dead but suddenly out of nowhere she sees the slaver girl she killed by the temple looking up at her from among the Enclave soldier. She immediately drops her weapon and falls to her knees. When she looks at her hands she sees that they are covered in blood and no matter how hard or much she tries to rub the blood away the blood doesn't disappear. A cold sweat starts to soak her body as she tries again and again to wipe the blood off her hands and that's when she looks up to see the slaver girl for the second time but now's she's knelt in front of her.

"Hanna what's wrong?" The girl says but she sounds familiar. "Hanna can you hear me? What's wrong with you?" The Girls voice sounds so familiar to Hanna that she feels like she's heard it so many times before and that's when she knows where from, its Erica's voice. "Hanna, for god's sake answer me!" The girl shouts as she slowly turns into Erica. "Hanna what's wrong?"

"I'm… I'm ok now it's… It's past" Hanna tells Erica in a shaky voice as she picks up her laser rifle. "You… You don't have to worry about me"

"Are you sure because I've never seen you like this" Erica says as she tries to look Hanna in the eye. Hanna avoids her gaze knowing that Erica will notice the fear in her eye's that she so desperately wants to hide.

"I said I'm fine so leave me alone" Hanna replies more formally as she takes aim with her rifle and takes a shot at a pair of Enclave soldiers taking cover behind a concert bench missing them both by a meter or two.

* * *

Alex Franco

The Enclave attack has lost its momentum and now the Brotherhood has them pinned down with accurate fire from above them. Most of the Enclave forces are pinned down and hiding behind anything they can fit behind in an attempt to avoid the incoming laser fire. This only makes it easier for Alex to kill Enclave and Enclave. All he has to do is look down his scope and fire at exposed body parts of Enclave soldiers and very quickly the dead and wounded Enclave outnumber the uninjured.

"There's boat in the river!" Nathan shouts as he fires his Gatlin laser in the direction of the river.

Alex looks at the river and sees two boats heading right for the Citadel. The lead boat is already finished as Nathan and several other Brotherhood members light it up with a shower of laser fire.

Alex takes aim at the second boat and fires hitting an Enclave soldier manning a mounted Gatlin laser in the head knocking it clean off his shoulder. He quickly reloads and fires again this time hitting the driver. His laser hits the driver in his right eye and turns him to ash which covers the back of the boat. With the driver gone the boat starts to go out of control and crashes into the back of the lead boat causing them both to explode before anyone on board can reach the controls.

"They're pulling back!" Someone yells and Alex turns to see the remaining Enclave force being cut to shreds by laser fire as they attempt to flee. They don't make it; the furthest they ever got was the library steps before they were all killed in a hail of laser fire.

"Hold your fire they're all dead!" Alex orders as he watches everyone shot at dead bodies and he's replied by a silence where only the breathing of everyone around can be heard.

* * *

Outside Rivet City

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Four boats have landed beside an old rusted aircraft carrier that is apparently Rivet City and have dropped off about twenty Enclave soldiers. The Brotherhood squad that was with the witches all lay dead on the road and the machine gun on the boats have the witches pinned down as the Enclave infantry advance towards them.

"They got us trapped what are we going to do?" Lynne asks as she starts to panic. She's becoming useless in this battle and with Yoshika refusing to kill anyone means on Gertrud and Sakamoto are still in the fight. Outnumbered ten to one and having to defend their fellow witches. The odds are stacked against them and to make things worse Sakamoto's losing her magic abilities leaving her weak and vulnerable to the Enclaves attack.

"Calm down Lynne we'll get through this somehow" Sakamoto tells Lynne who at this point has dropped her rifle and is shaking so hard you can almost feel it in the ground. "Yoshika put your shield and don't drop it till I tell you so"

"Yes ma'am" Yoshika replies before putting up a huge shield that protects the whole group.

"Take out as many soldiers as you can n my mark" Sakamoto orders as she loads her rifle.

"Yes ma'am" Gertrud replies as she takes aim at a pair of Enclave soldiers advancing on the left.

"Yoshika drop your shield now" Sakamoto orders before shouting. "Open fire!"

Gertrud opens up on the two advancing solders cutting the head off the lead soldier with a line of bullets through his neck. The second soldier meets a similar fate as several bullets enter both of his eyes killing him before he hits the ground. Yoshika is forced to put her shield back up as the Enclave return fire and Gertrud takes this opportunity to look and see how Sakamoto's doing. She looks to see four Enclave soldiers lying dead with bullet holes in their eyes.

"I'm running low on ammo this is my last mag" Sakamoto says as she reload. "How are you doing?"

"I've got about a fifty shots left" Gertrud answers looking at her magazine.

"Lynne, give me…" Sakamoto began to say when an Enclave aircraft falls out of the sky in flames and lands on top of two of the boats causing them both to sink. "What just happened?"

The Enclave soldiers seem just as surprised as the witches are as the stare at the burning water where two boats once floated. It is only when another aircraft appears bearing the symbol of the Brotherhood on its side. The Brotherhood aircraft immediately fires a pair of rockets hitting both the remaining boats before turning around and slaughtering the Enclave infantry with a Gatlin laser mounted on its nose.

"That was effective" Is all Gertrud can say as she looks out of the carnage of burning boats and dead bodies that aircraft left in its wake.

"Yeah now we better get inside Rivet City before they send more troops" Sakamoto suggest.

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

The group enter a scene of devastation as they enter the carrier. They are looking down into an area that was being used as a market but now it lays destroyed, bodies litter the floor turning it bright red and market stalls are left ablaze. The whole scene makes Lynne throw up and Yoshika on the verge of throwing up herself. Looking at Sakamoto's and Gertrud's faces it's clear they are just as disturbed as Yoshika and Lynne are.

"We need to find the lab" Yoshika says as she suddenly remembers her dads here and fears for his life.

"I know there's a sign here for the lab" Sakamoto replies as she points out the arrow with the word lab written on it in white paint.

The group walk through the maze of corridors stepping over dead bodies and pools of blood as they make their way towards the lab following the arrows. When they finally reach the labs they find tem trashed and two dead bodies lay on the floor with their once white lab coats turned a dark red.

"Where did everyone go?" Yoshika asks before the sounds of footsteps echo into the room from where they just came from. "There on the stairs"

"Wait Miyafuji" Sakamoto orders as Yoshika runs off back the way they came. She doesn't stop like she's told and in the end the other witches has to run after her.

Yoshika follows the sounds of footsteps back to the stairs and immediately starts to follow them up the stairs. They aren't going for the gang plank like Yoshika originally thought because as she passes the door leading the gang plank she can still the footsteps going further up the stairs. Eventually the stairs exit onto the deck of the ship and that's when for the first time in years she sees her father. He's a lot older than she remembers him being but she still recognizes him. Unfortunately he's in trouble, his hands are cuffed behind is back and five Enclave soldiers wearing metal armour and another who appears to be an officer not wearing the metal armour are leading Yoshika's dad and several other scientists into the back of one of their aircraft.

Yoshika start to run for the craft as the ramp start to close and the engines start determined to get on board and save her father. Unfortunately she's too slow and too late as the aircraft lifts into the sky before she can reach it.

Yoshika is left there on the deck watching her father disappear for the second time. Her heart starts to hurt and tears drip down her face as she falls to her knees watching the aircraft carry her father over the horizon. She stares there on the deck crying and trying to think of a way to get her father from those evil people for what feels like an entirety.

"Yoshika are you ok what happened?" Lynne asks as she knees down next to Yoshika and hugs her. Yoshika hugs her straight back and buries her face into Lynne's shoulder to hide her tears.

"They took him" Yoshika quietly answers into Lynne's shoulder. "The Enclave took him away"


	16. The Aftermath

The Citadel

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

The Citadel is full of the dead and dying, all morning the NCR and Brotherhood have been sending their wounded here for treatment. Yoshika has been using her magic to heal the worst of the injured in silence all morning and looks like she's on the verge of collapsing. Lynne has been at her side helping her as best she can and trying to talk her into taking a break but Yoshika just ignores her and carry's on her work.

Ever since she seen her dad taken away by the Enclave Yoshika's been quiet and not even Lynne can get her to speak more than a few words. After coming so close to being reunited with her dad only to have him taken away from her again most have been hard on her, from what Sakamoto and Gertrud told Minna it seemed to have a crushing blow to her as they told her Yoshika was crying most of the way back to the Citadel.

"Yoshika really needs to stop before she collapses" Sakamoto says as she walks up beside Minna.

"I know but no one can talk her into stopping I judging by her track record I believe even if we forced her to stop she'll only find a way to sneak off and start healing people again" Minna replies as she watches Yoshika nearly fall over after finishing healing a young women from the NCR. "Even though I don't think she'll last much longer"

"Your right she's probable going to collapse any minute now" Sakamoto replied with clear concern in her voice. "I'll go talk to her"

"I'm coming too" Minna says before they both walk over to Yoshika. The two of them walk over to Yoshika and find her barely conscious after healing so many people in a row. She can't even stand up anymore and Lynne's arm around her is the only thing stopping her from hitting the floor. "Yoshika we need to talk"

"Um… Yes… Ma'am…" Yoshika says as she tries to catch her breath.

"You need to stop and take a break before you hurt yourself" Minna tells her.

"But… these people… need… need my help" Yoshika protests till out of breath.

"Miyafuji you aren't strong enough to help everyone here" Sakamoto tells her. "You've already helped a lot of people and by the looks of it you'll collapse if you try and heal someone else"

"I'm fine… I can still… help" Yoshika continues to protest as she finally starts to catch her breath.

"No you're not fine now I'm ordering you to stop this before you get hurt!" Sakamoto shouts back at Yoshika who seems unfazed by it.

"But…"

"No buts now Lynne take her to her room and make sure she stays there and get some rest and if she leaves you'll be punished is well" Sakamoto says as she cuts of Yoshika.

"Yes ma'am" Lynne says as she starts to half carry half help Yoshika to walk off.

"Now hopefully she'll stay in her room" Sakamoto says as she turns back to Minna.

"Yeah I have a feeling that she'll fall straight to sleep when she lays down" Minna replies with a smile. "But I think you may have been a bit harsh on her"

"Well maybe but that's the only way to get through to her when she's like this" Sakamoto answers as she watches Yoshika and Lynne disappear into the building.

* * *

Erica Hartmann

Erica was hiding on the roof watching Hanna as she sits on top of some boxes with her face buried in her hands. Hanna's been acting strange ever since the battle, even though she won't admit it Erica can tell that something is wrong with her. Erica's been keeping a close eye on Hanna ever since the battle with the Enclave ended and all she's done all day is sit still and stare into her shaking palms. This isn't like Hanna, this isn't the way she normally acts or behaves in public. Normally she's always the centre of attention but now she looks like she's trying to avoid it.

"Hartmann what are you doing up here?" Gertrud asks from behind her. "Stop slacking off there's plenty of work to do down there"

"Something's wrong with Hanna and I'm trying to figure out what" Erica tells her without taking her gaze off Hanna.

"Something's always been wrong with her now come on Hartmann we have plenty work to do downstairs" Gertrud says more firmly as she grabs the back of Erica's shirt and pulls her up from her hiding space. "Beside Yoshika is worse off after seeing her dad get taken away"

"Yeah you always worry about Yoshika" Erica sighs.

"It's not my fault she always does something stupid like that time she ran away to find that witch Neuroi means we all need to worry about her" Gertrud replies as she looks away embarrassed.

"I'm sure you mean she looks like Chris so of cause I'll worry" Erica says with a giggle causing Gertrud's face to become bright red.

"She may look like Chirs but that's not way I care for her" Gertrud replied before storming off leaving Erica by herself again.

"Does that mean you're in love with her?" Erica shouts after her but gets no response in reply.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

"Yoshika please lay down you need to rest" Lynne pleads with Yoshika as she tries to get her to lie down on her bed.

"But I need to get back out there and help" Yoshika replies as she struggles to against Lynne to get out of her bed. "Please Lynne you have to let me go"

"I can't Yoshika" Lynne says with tears forming in her eyes. "If I let you go you'll only kill yourself out there and I don't want to lose you"

"Lynne don't worry I won't die so please let me go" Yoshika tells her as she stops struggling to get up.

"I…" Lynne began to say but Yoshika cuts her off by planting a soft gentle kiss on her lips cutting her off mid-sentence. Lynne was too shocked and surprised at first to return the kiss but after a few seconds the shock is gone and she returns Yoshika kiss.

"Lynne I promise I won't die" Yoshika says as she breaks off the kiss. "I won't leave you Lynne"

"I know you won't but I still worry" Lynne says as Yoshika drifts of to sleep. Lynne is left there looking down at the beautiful sleeping Yoshika touching her lips as she remembers their kiss. Her lips are still tingling and she can feel the warmth of Yoshika's lips as if they are still pressed onto hers. Lynne doesn't know what to do so she just tucks herself into bed with Yoshika and drifts off to sleep herself. "Good night Yoshika" Lynne says as she falls into a deep happy sleep.

* * *

Francesca Lucchini

Lucchini was with Shirley helping her carry around boxes for the Brotherhood. They were in a poorly light room looking for a box of batteries for touches as the Enclave destroyed most of the lights in the base during their attack.

"Hey Shirley do you think Yoshika's going to be ok?" Lucchini asks worried as Yoshika hasn't been herself since she returned.

"I don't know she looked depressed when she returned and then just buried herself in her work" Shirley replied shaking her head.

"I hope she's ok because I miss her cooking" Lucchini says as she drools at the thought of Yoshika's home cooked meals.

"Well I think you should go see her if you're that worried about her" Shirley suggest.

"Ok maybe I will after we find these batteries" Lucchini cheerfully replies as she wipes the drool of her chin.

* * *

Ryan James Francis "Lone Wanderer"

"Sara, I've missed you so much" Ryan says as he runs towards Sarah and he runs towards him, the two meet in the middle of the courtyard with Sarah jumping into Ryan's arms and pressing her lips onto his.

"I've missed you too" Sarah says in-between kisses. The couple pay no attention to the carnage around her or the stares being sent their way as they continue to passionately kiss each other over and over with each kiss their passion grows stranger.

"Come on break it up you two we're all needed in the Elders office" Alex cheerfully says as her gently push eth two lovers apart. "You can get back to this later"

The three of them made their made their way to the Elders office weaving through the bodies of the dead and wounded and trying to avoid the rapidly growing pool of blood which now coats half he courtyards floor. When they finally make it to the Elders office Ryan can see a trail of bloody footprints leading back outside. Elder Lyon is sat in his desk reading over the reports from the battle. He looks tired and stressed with at least twice the amount of wrinkles on his face than he did yesterday. His eyes are bloodshot and are surrounded by two dark circles but as he sees his daughter enter the room Ryan can see a hint of joy and relief fill his eyes for a moment.

"Sarah welcome back" Elder Lyon says as he gets up and hugs his daughter. "I hope you had success in your task"

"It's nice to see you too father and yes my mission was very successful but…" Sarah replies as everyone takes a seat. "Unfortunately I bring bad news, the Enclave are collecting scientist and engineers from all over the Wasteland for some reason and I believe they are up to something big in New York"

"I know I've received reports similar to yours already from other Chapters of the Brotherhood this morning" Elder Lyon tells her. "How does the Outpost look because the best chance we have of finding out what they are up to is to attack that Outpost?"

"It's lightly guarded with only eight soldiers and a sentry gun for defence and four scientists are also present at the Outpost" Sarah answers as she pulls out a map she's drawn of the Outpost. I've draw this plan of the Outpost and have already marked the defensive positions on it"

"Ok here's the plan" Elder Lyon says after taking a moment to examine the map. "Sarah I want your squad to attack from the south and Alex your squad will attack from the north. Ryan I want you to provide sniper support from this hill to the west"

"What about the witches what do we do if they want to come?" Alex asks.

"If they want to they can come but don't force them as this is not their fight" Elder Lyon answers. "I'll leave their positions p to you if they chose to go as you have seen them in action Alex"

"Understood sir" Alex replied.

"Good you'll leave tonight and begin your attack at dawn" Elder Lyon says bringing the meeting to an end.

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila was sat on her bed watching Sanya sleep peacefully, her silver hair falls in waves across her sweet pale face and a her lips creep up to form a smile on her face. Even though Sanya has been sleeping at the same time as everyone else her body still hasn't adjusted to the change and as a result she gets tired during the day forcing her to take naps. Eila had nothing to do, she would help out with the wounded but the sight of all that blood made her feel sick to her stomach so now she is sitting quietly in her room watching Sanya sleep.

Eila was so caught up in the beauty that is the sleeping Sanya that she doesn't even notice the white dots enter her vision and trail around her at a breath taking speed. She doesn't even notice she isn't in her room anymore with Sanya until the whiteness around her swallows up Sanya's face.

As soon as the whiteness fades away Eila quickly realises she isn't in the citadel anymore but back in her own world. From looking around her Eila can tell she's in the ruins of Berlin and above her head is a giant hive. All around her are Neuroi, in the sky and on the ground they are everywhere but don't seem to notice her or pay her any attention. Then something catches her attention she didn't expect to see.

Three men wearing the same armour worn by the Enclave are stood in front of a Neuroi shaped like an angle. Two of the Enclave are wearing power amour similar to the ones the Enclave that attacked the Citadel wore but with glowing blue lights one their shoulders and carrying large weapons. The other Enclave is dressed a grey uniform and black hat is stood in front of the other two with a side arm holstered in his belt. He man in the hate is clearly in charge of the other two and is saying something to the Angle shape Neuroi but for some reason Eila can't hear what they are saying, she can't hear anything at all only the thoughts in her head.

After a minute also something else happens that caches Eila by surprise. The angle shaped Neuroi and the Enclave officer shakes hands like they reached some kind of deal. Nothing like this has happened before ha Eila is aware of. Then as soon as the hand shake finishes the Neuroi faster than the speed of light punches the Enclave officer in the chest and when its hands pull away Eila can see a core embedded in the man's chest as his chest wound heals around it.

After a few seconds the man's skin starts to turn black and his cloths disappear, after a few seconds the man's completely black apart from the red glow in his eyes. That's when Eila recognizes him he's the man shaped Neuroi that attacked he 501st and sent them to he's world.

"You needed to see that and know what happened" A voice behind her says and Eila spins round to see the sprit from before floating behind her.

"But if that was the Neuroi that attacked our base than why did a woman transform into it not a man?" Eila asks as she thinks back to the moment when she saw the mechanic transform into a Neuroi.

"There is more than one" The sprit answers. "Squad Sigma, a elite squad in the Enclave have all been transformed"

"How many are there?" Eila answers but gets no response and in a blink of an eye she's back in her room lying down in Sanya's bed with her arm around the Sanya's body.

* * *

Country Mansion

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

Takei and rest of the 504th was just arriving at the mansion, three black cars transported the squad here and drop them off at the front steps of the mansion. The mansion is surrounded by a tall hedge row; in front of the mansion is a large fountain with winged babies in nappies pouring jugs of water down into the clear blue water below. The sound of music and singing can be heard through the thick wooden doors of the mansion. All the windows are lit and the silhouettes of people can be seen dancing and talking behind the curtains, when the girl enter the party's already in full swing. The mansion is filled with statues, priceless works of art and people enjoying the party.

All of the 504th immediately goes their separate ways leaving Takei alone with her commanding officer Federica. They both remain in the entrance watching the other girls disappear into the crowd and join the party.

"I think this is just what everyone needs right now" Take says to Frederica as she sees a group of witches laughing around a table lined with food from all-over the world.

"Yeah it will be a nice change from all the fighting that's been happening recently" Federica replies as she turns to Takei with a smile on her face. "That's a nice dress by the way"

"Thank you" Takei smiled back, she was wearing a white dress with a pattern of flowers stitched into her dress. "Yours is nice too"

"Thanks now let's go get something to drink before I die of thirst" Federica replies as she grabs Takei's hand and starts to pull her towards the bar. Federica was wearing a black dress that ended just above her knees and the top was open slightly showing off her breasts. "Oh that reminds me a managed to invite a friend of mine"

"Great another one of your set me up plans" Takei moans as they sit down at the bar. "So who is it this time?"

"Carl Webster, he's an old friend I know from before the war" Federica answers. "You'll like him he's handsome, strong and an excellent soldier; I believe he's destroyed sixty eight Neuroi which is more than anyone else, not including the witches of course"

"As long as he's not gay like the last one you set me up with" Takei jokes and they both share a laugh at the memory of the event.

"Hey that wasn't my fault I had no idea he was gay" Federica says as she tries to stop laughing. "Anyway what do you want to drink?"

"I'll have what you're having" Takei answers and Federica grabs the bartenders attention. He quickly serves the girls two glasses of red wine. "I'll see what he's like but I'm not promising you that your plan will work out"

"I think you'll like him you both have a lot in common and I know for a fact he won't pull the guy sitting next to you like the last one did" Federica says before taking a sip of her wine. "Speak of the devil here he is now" Takei looked round to see a pair of Romagna men walking towards them. "Carl's the one on the left and the one on the right is my date for the night"

Takei looks at Carl; he has short black hair, bright blue eye's that can be seen from a mile away and a pale burn scar across his left cheek. Carl's wearing a Romagna military uniform with two medals pinned to his top. On his should is rank is clearly marked as Captain.

"Hey guys how you two are doing tonight" Federica asks as she waves the pair over.

"Fine thanks for inviting us" The other man says as he and Carl take a seat.

"Don't mention it" Federica replies after she takes another sip of her wine. "Carl this is Takei I've been telling you about"

"Hey Takei nice to meet you Federica hasn't shut up about you for the past two weeks" Carl says as he turns to Takei.

"It's nice to meet you too" Takei replies as she turns and looks deep into his eyes.

* * *

The Citadel

Dean Camron

Dean, Jayson, Nathan and Sam are sat on top of the roof watching the bridge for any sign of the Enclave. They have been up there all day under the hot sun which only now has been hidden behind a small fluffy white cloud offering a temporary relief from the suns warming light.

"Man I never thought I would hate warmth this much" Jayson moans out loud as the sun light beams down on their heads again after the cloud moves on across the sky. "Almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter right?"

Everyone laughs at his last comment as Jayson does a mock sault the NCR uses. Everyone in the NCR always says that line every time they sweat from the heat of the sun. It's nearly impossible not to mock the NCR as all of their soldiers are ever lazy or extremely serious about their jobs.

"Listen up everyone we have a mission" Alex says as he walks up to the group and everyone stand to attention. "We have been tasked with the capture of an Enclave outpost. During this operation we will be working with the Lyon's Pride and Lone Wanderer. Our mission is to secure the outpost and search it for any information about what they are doing"

"When do we leave?" Sam asks.

"We leave tonight and we attack at dawn" Alex answers. "Everyone should get some rest because it's going to be along walk"

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika wake up to find herself wrapped up in Lynne's arms and bed. Yoshika just lays there completely still fearing that the slightest movement will wake Lynne from her slumber. Lynne looked so happy in her sleep especially when she is sharing a bed with Yoshika she always has a smile on her face than.

Yoshika could of styed like this laying in Lynne's arms all day but the giggling coming from across the room forces her to quickly turn round and in turn wakes Lynne up. Yoshika finds Lucchini and Shirley sat on the other bed watching them with Lucchini quietly giggling to herself.

"Looks like you two had a good time" Shirley teases making Yoshika's and Lynne's faces turn bright red. "Let me know next time you guys go at it so I can watch"

"Um… nothing… nothing happened we… we just slept in the same bed" Yoshika manages to get out through her embarrassment.

"Oh well I guess I'll get to watch your first time" Shirley says as she lies back onto the bed looking up at the ceiling. "I'm always here if you want some pointers"

"We… we are fine thanks" Yoshika replies going even redder as she imagines being able to play with both Lynne's and Shirley's breasts.

"Is there something you came here for other than watching us?" Lynne asks as she yawns.

"Yeah we wanted to see if you we're ok Yoshika" Lucchini says as everyone turns their attention to Yoshika. "Also I wanted some food"

"I'm fine you don't need to worry about me" Yoshika replies as she stretches out her tired limbs.

"Are you sure because you haven't been yourself since they took him" Lucchini says and Shirley gives her shoulder a light shove. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to"

"It's ok I know he's alive and I'll find him again someday" Yoshika answers.

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

"I'm going with you" Gertrud tells Alex after he finished telling her about the attack on the Enclave outpost.

"Me too" Sakamoto adds. She's determined to find Dr Miyafuji again and bring him back to Yoshika and Gertrud probably wants to go for the same reason.

Sakamoto only bumped into Alex b accident when she was on her way to see Yoshika only to find him and his squad preparing weapons and ammo for something. She immediately questioned him about it and Alex told her about their planned attack on the outpost. Gertrud must have over heard them speaking because Sakamoto didn't even notice her until she said she was going.

"Ok we leave at nine o'clock and are meeting at the main gate" Alex ells them. "You don't have to come this isn't your fight"

"It became our fight when they took Dr Miyafuji" Sakamoto replied. "It will be our fight until we get him back"

"Ok I understand" Alex replies knowing that he won't be able to talk them out of this. "I have a few more things to do so I'll meet you there"

"Ok we'll meet you there" Gertrud says as Alex walks off.

* * *

Country Mansion

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

Takei has to agree with Federica because she and Carl have a lot in common and he hasn't pulled the guy sat next to her like her last date Federica set her up on did. He's kind, funny and has a lot of interesting stories to tell about his life before the war, mostly they are about embarrassing stories about his mistakes and Takei can't help but laugh at them.

"So do you feel like dancing?" Carl asks her as he extends his hand towards her.

"Thought you'll never ask" Takei replies as she takes his hand. The couple walk on to the dance floor and immediately start to waltzes. Takei has never danced the waltzes before so she completely lets Carl led and lets him guide her through the dance. "Where did you learn how to dance?" Takei asks failing to find anything else to talk about.

"I've been going to balls and party's since I was a baby so I just picked it up from there" Carl whispers into Takei's ear. Carl's warm breath on her ear causes Takei to shiver at the sensation. "So where did you learn how to dance?"

"Just now I've never danced this dance before" Takei admits with a slight giggle.

"Wow you must be a fast learner because you dance like a pro" Carl tells her causing a proud smile to emerge on Takei's face.

"Yeah I've only just learned from following you" Takei replies as they continue to dance. "So you must be a good teacher"

"Well I'm not the best but as you just found out I can get the job done" Carl says as a smile grows on his face is well.


	17. Counter Attack

The Citadel

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud is waiting with Minna and Dean for the rest of the Brotherhood to arrive. The attack on this outpost is vital and its success will bring about a really difference in the war if the kind of information the Brotherhood thinks is there is there.

The sun is just starting to set and the stars are starting to fill the sky. The sun may only just be setting but already the Citadel is shrouded in darkness and as the sun drops so does the temperature making Gertrud shake and shiver as she waits to leave. Finally Alex arrives with a woman and a large group of Brotherhood soldiers.

"Ladies this is Sentinel Lyons she's the leader of the Lyon's Pride and she and her squad will be taking part in the assault as well" Alex introduces them and the two witches shake the Sentinel's hand. "Sentinel Lyons this is Major Sakamoto and Captain Barkhorn"

"It's nice to meet you Alex has been telling me all about your battle with the Night Stalkers and Slavers and I must say that I'm impressed with your skill in battle" Sentinel Lyons tells the two witches as she finishes shaking their hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too" Sakamoto replies with a slight bow.

"Now then shell we get going we have a long walk a head of us" Alex says as he motions for everyone to leave.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

"Are you really ok Yoshika?" Lynne asks looking Yoshika in the eye seeing not the bright brown eyes she's used to but dark eyes clearly showing her depression. "You haven't been yourself since they took him"

Lynne and Yoshika are still in their room now alone as Shirley and Lucchini thankfully left after an endless session of teasing the two girls. They have been huddled together ever since those two left, not warmth or because they want to lay this close together but for comfort in these dark times of this dark word.

"Yeah I'm fine I just wish we could have gotten there sooner and saved him, saved the others too of course" Yoshika sobbed into Lynne's chest. "If only we had been faster that way they would never have took him"

"You shouldn't blame yourself Yoshika" Lynne say's as she places her hand under Yoshika's chin and gently forces her to make eye contact. "If you start blaming yourself you will never recover and never be able to save him"

"But we can't save him, we don' even know…" Yoshika began to sob only to have Lynne cut her off by placing a light gentle kiss onto to her lips. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds and left both girls wanting another but it was enough to shut Yoshika up and stop her sobbing.

"If you start saying stuff like that then we will never find him" Lynne calmly tells her. "You have to have faith Yoshika, Major Sakamoto and Barkhorn left an hour ago to get information from an Enclave outpost. Just wait and have faith ok ten when they return we'll know exactly where your father is being held"

* * *

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula's been having the time of her life in the Brotherhood labs. Everyone here is so knowledgeable and can actually hold a conversation with Ursula, which very few people can do. Ursula has always loved learning and now she's got rooms full of energy weapons and robots to study and one day when she makes it back to her world with this knowledge she'll know how to build these things and use them to turn the tide in this war with the Neuroi.

The thing she's most interested in though is a giant robot strapped to a lift in the basement of the base. Ursula has never seen anything like it before and although she can't see any weapons the Brotherhood scribes tell her that thing has some and is able to use them to decimate the Enclave in the past.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ursula asks as she approached the head scribe. She felt nervous approaching the old man but she knew she shouldn't as Elder Lyon's already told him she'll be coming down to lend a hand.

"Oh you must be Ursula" The old man says as he turns to face her and extends his arm towards her. "I'm Reginald Rothchild the Head Scribe of this chapter of the brotherhood nice to meet you"

"It's nice to meet you too" Ursula replies still feeling nervous as she shakes the man's hand.

"You don't have to be nervous around me know down to business" The head scribe says with a small smile on his face. "I've assigned one of my apprentices to work with you and help you in any way that you may need help. He's a smart young man and I'm sure you two will get along just fine"

"Ok but what will I be doing?" Ursula asks feeling more nervous now that she knows about meeting another new stranger. The head scribe starts to lead the way down through a hallway which leads to the bases workshop.

"Several of our weapons need repairing after the recent battle so you two will be repairing some of them will other apprentices will be repairing the others. "Oh here we are now, Initiate Guy Watkins this is Ursula Hartmann the girl I was telling you about"

Guy only seem to be sixteen and is not much taller than Ursula. He has short ginger hair, brown dark eyes and light stubble on his face. He is wearing a red robe and has a tool case in his hand which he places gently down on the floor as he makes his way over to Ursula and the head scribe.

"It's an honour to meet you miss" Guy says with a slight bow.

"It nice to meet you to…" Ursula says but stops as soon as Guy takes her hand and kisses it.

"That's enough Guy just because she's an outsider doesn't mean its ok to make tease her so just treat her like anyone else" The head scribe tells him and Guy immediately drops her hand and steps back with a grin on his face. "She's probable smarter than you"

"No outsider is smarter than me" Guy confidently tells the head scribe puffing out his chest.

"Well after a while you can see for yourself" The head scribe tells him. "I'll leave you two to get to know each other and start working soon because we need those guns"

The two stands there watching the head scribe leave in complete silence and continue to stand there in silence for a few minutes after he left. Finally the two turn back to each other and Ursula can't help but notice the change in his eyes. Before the head scribe left his eyes showed kindness and joy but now all Ursula can see is hatred.

"You better not hold me back outsider" Guy coldly warns her.

"Don't worry I've made weapons before" Ursula replies slightly angered by Guy's new altitude.

"You better be right because if you fall behind it will look bad on me and then I'll make sure you pay for making me look bad outsider" Guy says as he turns his back to Ursula and starts to walk off. "Follow me we are working over here outsider"

"Ok and my names Ursula not outsider" Ursula replies annoyed at her new nickname he's giving her.

"It outsider until you earned the right to have a name" Guy tells her without even bothering to stop or look her way.

* * *

Country Mansion

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

Takei and Carl have moved off of the dance floor and back to the bar where Federica and her date is sat with the next round of drinks. Frederica seems to be having just as much fun on her date as Takei is because as Takei and Carl sit back down she's all smiles ad still laughing at something.

"You two look like you're having fun" Carl says as he takes his drink. "So what's so funny?"

"Oh it's nothing, just some old joke" Frederica replies still laughing.

"Well you must be sad to laugh at something old that much" A harsh voice calls out from behind Takei, all four of them turn round to come face to face with the person who said it, Adriana Visconti of the 506th Joint Fighter Wing. "But then again people of your class can't hope to catch up and live in the times like us nobles do"

Adriana Visconti Flight Lieutenant from Romagna and a member of A-unit from the 506th JFW. She has shoulder length red hair, green eyes and is wearing an expensive looking red dress that shows off the top of her large breasts. Professionally Takei admires Adriana but personally she hates her. In the past Adriana has shot down hundreds of Neuroi with her dual wielding of Fliegerhammers making her the fourth highest scoring ace, but her personality is horrible and Takei can't help but hate her for it.

"Ha yeah we sure can't keep up with your class" Carl says sarcastically to her getting a laugh from the people around him. "Then why don't you help us by telling us a noble joke darling"

"I don't see why I should entertain the likes of you" Adrianna replies as she turns her back to the group. "Since it's a party I'll give you a chance to get on your knees and apologise for that attitude of yours before you live to regret it"

"Sorry but I won't apologise for that" Carl tells her in a mocking tone.

"How dare you! Do you know who you are talking to?" Adrianna explodes shouting and waving her arms around as she walks towards Carl and gets in his face. "This is your last chance to say you're sorry"

"No" Carl replies as he crosses his arms over his chest and stares down into her eyes.

"Fine have it your way" Adrianna says in a firm, threatening voice before she walks off.

"Oh she's mad" Frederica says as everyone watches Adrianna walk off. "You better watch your back Carl she said your regret it"

"I'm so scared" Carl jokes causing everyone around the bar to laugh. "On second thoughts she should be scared because I've got Takei to protect me"

"Yeah she can probably take on the entire 506th with her hands tied behind her back, right Takei" Frederica tells everyone as she wraps her arm around Takei's shoulder and rests her head against hers. "I haven't seen anyone who can beat her yet"

* * *

The Capital Wasteland

Ryan James Francis "Lone Wanderer"

"I've got you covered, begin your assault" Ryan whispers into the radio as he looks down the scope of Anti-materiel rifle onto the outpost.

Ryan is hid amongst the rocks on top of a burnt rocky hill west of the outpost. From this hill he has a clear view of the outpost and can in this weather with next to no wind his Anti-materiel rifle will be a deadly threat this morning. Through his scope he can clearly see six of the eight guards walking around down there and the sentry gun on the roof of a garage inside the outpost.

Two explosions start off the attack fired from Jayson and the Lyon's rocket launchers. The first explosion takes out the sentry gun and the second kills two guards who were smoking outside of the garage, after that all hell breaks loss as laser beams rain down onto the outpost and an alarm fills the air blocking out the sound all of the lasers being fired as both Brotherhood squads advance towards the outpost.

Ryan looks through his scope looking for any Enclave soldier's that are giving the assaulting squads a hard time but fails to find any as all the Enclave soldiers are laying dead on the ground.

* * *

Mio Sakamoto

Alex, Sakamoto and Gertrud now carrying laser rifles proved to them by the Brotherhood are advancing on the main building in the outpost along with Dean, Jayson and Nathan. Their target is a small concert building which looked like it once had a second floor but now lies under its ruins.

They take no fire from any Enclave survivors as most of them died within seconds of the attack beginning but something stops them all in their tracks. A loud set of footsteps can be herd approaching them from behind. Every member in the Brotherhood and both witches turn round and find a monster staring at them with a pair of bright blue eyes, the creature is six feet tall and covered in thick sandy scales, its hands are ended in long sharp looking claws and its teeth are sharp pointed and judging by the monsters jaw it looks like they can pack a powerful punch. The monster just stares at them silent unmoving with the only sound that could be herd are the creatures deep long breaths that send shivers up Sakamoto's spin and make her knees and arms shake. There's not much Sakamoto scared but this creature is one of those things as Sakamoto can barely keep looking at it and she finds it impossible to stop her limbs from shaking.

"What is that thing?" Sakamoto asks in a shaky voice as she starts to back away from the monster.

"It's a Deathclaw and whatever you do don't shoot at it are lasers will only piss it off more and get us all killed" Alex calmly and quietly answers as he also starts to back up along with everyone else. "Rayan take the shot you are the only one who can kill this thing"

"I haven't got a shot can you get it to turn round" Rayan replies and Sakamoto can her Alex curse under his breath.

"Alright I'll see…" Alex starts to say but is interrupted by Nathan charging the Deathclaw guns blazing. "Nathan what are you doing?"

"What needs to be done" Nathan replies rolling under the Deathclaw's claws as it slashes at him.

"Pull back that's too dangerous" Alex pleads as Nathan only just manages to dodge the second swipe the Deathclaw sends his way. "There's another way don't do this"

"Sorry but it's too late now" Nathan say's as the Deathclaw's claws descends on him so fast that it's impossible for him to dodge. Just watching this is unbearable for Sakamoto as she is about to view someone's death, she can't help but feel useless as she is unable to save a single life.

"Nathan, get out of there!" Alex shouts fearing the worst for his comrade but at the last minute just as the claws about to make contacted Gertrud suddenly appears surrounded by a silver glow and her familiar is out putting dog ears and a tail on her body she punches the Deathclaw in the side of the knee causing the Deathclaw to scream out in agony and a sickening bone crunching sound to feel the air.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn "Trude"

Gertrud jumps back after landing a clean hit to the Deathclaw's knee causing major damage to the creature. Gertrud didn't have to even think about saving Nathan she just knew she had to after see all the death and destruction in her world and this one, her body just reacted automatically as she watched the Deathclaw's arm descend claws at the ready about to end his life. She just charged the monster without thinking about it or where she should strike; she trusted her instincts and was rewarded by the sound of bones shattering and cries of agony escaping the monsters mouth.

"Everyone get back this one's mine!" Gertrud shouted and surprisingly everyone including Nathan obeys her and takes several steps back.

"Barkhorn are you sure about this?" Sakamoto as her as she and the beast enter a staring contest that Gertrud is determined not to loss.

"Yes I'm sure major" Gertrud replies calm and steady almost like none of this phase's her and this is just another ordinary day in her life. "I've got this ma'am"

The beast is the first one to blink as it charges towards Gertrud with both of its arms outstretched ready to crush her to death in on fatally tight hug. But Gertrud anticipated its next move would be an all-out attack aimed at killing her in a single quick, powerful blow, she easily ducks under the Deathclaws attack takes full advantage of its broken leg to get behind it and send another fully strength attack making more bone shattering sounds and screams of pain fill the air.

The Deathclaw instantly fall over onto its stomach screaming in agony as it fell and continued to do so even after it hit the ground hard. The sounds of this creature dying fill the air as Gertrud calmly walks around towards the head of the beast. As she reaches it and stares down into its eyes she can't help but feel sorry for what she had done to this creature. She stares at it for a few moments watch the creature cough up blood and tears drip out of its eyes working up the resolve to end this creature's life. In the end she stomps down as hard as she can on the beasts head not to kill it but to put it out of its misery and the resulting skull creaking sound brings a tear to Gertrud's eyes but she quickly wipes it away before turning back to face the others.

That creature didn't deserve to die because of it following its nature. It was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gertrud thinks to herself as she starts to walk towards the others. She doesn't like to see people in pain unless they deserve it and she can hardly believe that she was able to put that creature through so much agony.

* * *

Ryan James Francis "Lone Wanderer"

"The assault was a success all hostels eliminated" Alex radio's to Ryan as the Deathclaw breaths it's last breath. "Cover us while we search for Intel"

"Don't worry I got your back covered" Ryan replies as he puts Alex in his sights. Ryan watches Alex take his squad and the two apparent witches into the main building and Sara set her squad up to watch the perimeter. Everything is going well so far, the Deathclaw was a bit of a surprise but thanks to the help of one of the witches they overcame that obstacle. "Who are those girls anyway? I have never seen anyone one like them before"

"It's a long story and it will have to wait till we get back" Alex replies with the sound of rustling paper in the background. "I'll tell you everything over dinning to… Everyone get out now!"

A loud explosion shatters the silence and the main building in the outpost erupts in a ball of fire sending chunks of rubble flying in all directions. Alex and his team are nowhere to be seen and smoke from the quickly growing inferno soon fills the sky blocking Ryan's view of the outpost.

"Alex, Sarah, are you both Ok?" Ryan desperately asks as he struggles to make out anything through his scope. "Sarah, please answer me!"

"I'm… I'm ok you… don't need worry about me" Sarah replies while coughing and breathing heavily.

"Thank god, What about Alex and his team?" Ryan asks feeling relieved that Sarah is fine.

"They're all… ok… they made it out just in time" Sarah answers him as she still struggles to catch her breath. "Watch your six… there's someone behind… you"

Ryan quickly turns and takes aim with his Anti-materiel rifle but hesitates when he sees the person stood behind him. The man stood behind him is completely black and doesn't seem to be wearing any cloths; on his face is no sign of a noise or mouth only to bright red glowing eyes that seem to be getting brighter by the second.

"Shoot it now it's about to attack!" One of the witches shouts over the radio but loud enough for Ryan to hear faintly even without the radio. Ryan has no reason to doubt her so he instantly pulls the trigger and fires at nearly point blank range blowing a large hole in the man's chest. Unfortunately the man hardly seems fazed by this and Ryan watches frozen in fear as the hole he just made in the man's chest starts to heal itself. "Get out of there it's about to fire!"

Ryan only barely manages to dodge the incoming shot by diving behind a rock as the beam hits the ground where he was just standing causing dirt and stone to fly around all-over the place.

"What the hell is that thing?" Ryan asks as he draws his revolver after losing the Anti-materiel rifle during his dodge.

"It's a Neuroi now listen to me" The witch tells him. "Its core is in its right hand destroy that and you've killed it"

"How do you know that?" Ryan asks as he pecks round the rock to see the Neuroi staring right back at him.

"Trust me I've fought against the Neuroi for nearly six years and I know how to kill them" The witch answers.

"Ok I'll give it a shot" Ryan replies right before he runs out of his cover firing his revolver at the Neuroi's right hand. All of his bullets hit their mark and soon a red crystal is revealed and destroyed. The Neuroi gives Ryan a look of surprise before letting out an ear piercing screech that make Ryan fall to the ground holding his ears as the Neuroi disintegrates into hundreds of shiny white fragments. "Is it dead because that seemed too easy?"

"Yes and it won't be so easy next time as I believe that Neuroi didn't think you knew about its weak spot" The witch tells him.

"Ryan pack up we are leaving" Alex orders and it's impossible to miss the sadness in his voice.

"Alex, is something wrong?" Ryan asks him as he collects his Anti-materiel rifle.

"No, Nathan's dead" Alex answers sounding almost like he's crying. "He didn't make it out in time"


	18. Dark Day's

The Citadel

Dean Camron

Nathans funeral was sad and brought many people to tears as his body burned on top of his pyre. Most of the time the Brotherhoods fallen can't be recovered and their bodies left to rot out there in the Wasteland but Alex made sure that we brought back Nathan's body so his soul can rest in peace knowing that his body isn't rotting or being eaten by some mutant or cannibal somewhere. Even though Dean only known him for a week he has grown close to him and that deep bond he forged with all the members of his squad brings him pain as he watches Nathans body burn and turn to ash. Looking around the mourners a lot of Brotherhood members are here to pay their respect to their fallen comrade and even all the witches have shown up. Even though Yoshika, Lynne and Francesca have known Nathen for only a short time they still cry and mourn his lost. The funeral's goes on all morning as Nathan is burned along with other fallen men and women but out of all the pyres Nathans is the most crowed. Dean stays by the pyre until only ash remains of Nathans body is ash that raises along with the smoke into the blue sky and disappears into the white fluffy clouds that drift lazily overhead.

"Are you alright Dean?" I small depressed voice quietly asks and Dean, turns to find Erica stood behind him looking like she's about to cry.

"Yeah I'm fine" Dean replies as he looks deep into her watery eyes. "You don't have to worry about me, anyway how are you holding up?"

"Not good, I… I hate it when people die and I wish that no one would ever have to die again, I know I'm a hypocrite haven killed plenty of people since coming to this world but I only did so in self-defence" Erica answers as she looks down at her feet. "I wish I didn't kill them but I had no chose"

"It's ok I know you did what you had to and to be honest I agree with you and believe that no one should be killed but that's not how the world works" I would like to live in a room filled with peace and happiness. I tell her as I place a hand on her shoulder and a tear escapes her eyes. That place sounds wonderful"

* * *

Perrine H. Clostermann

An hour later Perrine and the rest of the witches have moved into the dining hall to eat lunch which is some kind of vegetable soap. None of the vegetables in this soap is familiar to Perrine and taste a lot sweeter than any soup she has ever had. The hall room is eating in silence and the only sounds that can be heard are the scrapes of cutlery and the music from the radio playing over the intercom system. The song that's playing is a sad song about love and loss which Perrine wishes will stop as it brings up memories of the recently dead and their bodies burning.

"Can't they stop this song it's really depressing" Perrine finally says out loud after listing to the song for over two minutes.

"Well it's on the radio so I don't think they can change it" Shirley points out without looking up from her food, she sounds depressed and is in no doubt just as miserable as the rest of the room.

"Don't think anyone would mind if we turn it off" Minna says as she stands up, she is probable going to walk over and request that they turn off the radio but before she can leave the table the song suddenly stops and is replaced by a deep tough sounding voice of an man.

"Good day to all the citizens of the United States of America this is your one true leader President Mason Dawn coming to you from the U.S fleet of the East Coast" The voice begins to say with the Liberion national anthem playing in the background. "Now is the time for the United States to reunite and restore our once great nation to its former glory, to do this there are certain groups that every citizen needs to deal help the Enclave eliminate. The Brotherhood of Steel, these so called knights of the Wasteland are nothing more than a bunch of children playing god and using our nation's military installations as their personal club house and making a mockery of what those buildings stand for. Then there's the NCR, the New California Republic, there's nothing new about it as they copied the old failed way of life that ended in atomic fire, if you chose them over the Enclave than the world will only end in destruction and fire again"

"Well I never thought the Enclave would need to ask for help" Erica says a loud as the President pauses in his speech.

"Be quiet Hartmann I'm trying to listen" Gertrud says as the President begins to speak again.

"Only together can we unite this great nation, only together can we restore this country to greatness and only together can we end the rain of the NCR and Brotherhood. Together we will be victorious and take our place as the greatest nation on earth" The President says as the music switches from the anthem to a more inspirational track. "We will be victorious together and together we will reunite our proud great nation"

With that the speech ends and the depressing music resumes playing from where it left off like nothing happened. The room completely changes from a quiet room where you can only hear the scrapes of cutlery to a room filled with chatter as everyone discusses what just happened.

"So we know who our enemy's leader is now at least" Erica says out loud as she finishes off the last of her soup. "That's got to be good right"

"Yeah but we still don't know where he is" Sakamoto points out.

"Yeah the East Coast is a big place and even bigger because he mentioned he's at sea" Perrine adds backing up her beloved Major.

"While it has narrowed it down to a part of the country" Gertrud says as she recalls the maps she's seen of Liberion. "That's assuming he wasn't lying"

"Well if he's at sea he doesn't have to lie as he could easily move around" Minna states. "So even if the Brotherhood does manage to trace the radio broadcast it's safe to say that the Enclave has already moved their fleet somewhere else"

"That's bad as I don't think the Brotherhood has a fleet" Perrine says staring into her soup. "I don't think the Brotherhood has anything that can touch them"

* * *

Hanna-Justina Marseille

Hanna moved straight to the roof after lunch desperately trying to save her sanity. It's that girl, that slaver girl she shot. Every time she picks up or even looks at a gun she sees that girl covered with blood from wounds that Hanna inflected on her, every time that girl appears she just stares at Hanna which may not seem like much but it causes Hanna's body to freeze and a cold sweat to drench her body as it shakes itself into oblivion.

That girl is stalking Hanna, her spirit unable to rest without vengeance on the person who ended her short life. Hanna is already starting to crack as the girl continues to haunt her, everything she's tried to rid herself of this girl has failed leaven her to get more and more desperate in how she well solve this problem meanwhile that girl will continue to stalk and haunt Hanna until she's had her revenge.

"What do you want from me?!" Hanna asks as loud as she can as to the air around her knowing that the girls spirit is watching and listening to her. "Show yourself and tell me what you want!"

Only an eerie silence answers her as a strong wind picks up around Hanna's body nearly blowing her over, that's when she appears, the girl covered in blood is standing right in front of Hanna with a creepy smile on her face.

"What do you want?" Hanna asks more calmly but the girl doesn't answer, she just starts to walk towards Hanna leaving bloody foot prints behind her and causing Hanna to back up towards the edge. "What do you want?!"

"I want you to…" The girl spirit starts to say before blood stats to pour out of her eyes, out of her noise and out of her mouth. "...to die"

Hanna can't help but back up faster towards the edge after hearing that as the fear she has for this girl outweighs the fear she has from falling. The girl continues to keep pace with Hanna as she heard Hanna towards the edge and to most likely her death, luckily Hanna trips on a brick left in the middle of the roof and land flat on her back staring up at the sky. When Hanna sits up to see the girl she finds that the girls spirit has disappeared and nowhere to be seen on the roof.

"You got lucky this time" The girl says coldly into Hanna's ear making Hanna scream and jump forward away from the girl with a wet warm feeling in her pants traveling down her leg as she turns round to face the girl once more. "I will kill you, I don't know when or where but you will die"

* * *

No. 578 Squadron RAF Base Britannia

Cyril Joe Barton

It was a quiet cloudy morning with the clouds blocking out the sun and the blue sky, a cold breeze blows across the base chilling the base personal working out in the open. The base isn't much, just a dirt runway with a few wooden cabins and several rows of tents, the air craft are all lined up in neat rows, and four anti-aircraft guns spread out along the runway protect the base with the aid of four Liberion P52 fighters.

Cyril was with the new bunch of pilots that was brought in to replace the losses of the squadron suffered last week at as they attempted to destroy the Neuroi artillery pounding the South Coast. Most of the new pilots are fresh out of boot camp without any combat experience and little flight time.

"Sir I don't like this they we'll be nothing more than sitting ducks out there" Cyril quietly complains to the base commander.

"I know that's why you're going to train them" The base commander replies just as quietly. "You're second in command now so you need to train them and make the combat ready"

"Yes sir" Cyril says before turning round to face the new recruits who can barely stand at attention. "Right listen up I'm…" The alarm suddenly bursts into life shattering the peaceful calm morning and instantly throwing the base into chaos as the Liberion fighters get air born and people rush to ready the anti-aircraft guns. "Shit everyone follow me to the shelter"

* * *

209th Fighter Squad attached to No 578 Squadron

Aran Maxwell

Aran leads his fighter pilots above the clouds and towards the incoming Neuroi. As the pilots breach the clouds and enter the blue sky beyond they are blinded by the sudden brightness of the sun and by the time they can all see again the Neuroi is visible and approaching fast. The Neuroi is shaped like a giant snake and moves like one through the air as it quickly weaves its way towards the fighters.

"We have visual on the Neuroi, it's a large class Neuroi heading north at 250km" Aran reports over the radio back to base. "Rick, Neal gain attitude at attack from above, Garry follow me we're attack it head on"

"Yes sir" The other three pilots reply as they move their aircraft into positions to fulfil their orders.

Aran charges in full speed weaving from side to side to avoid the incoming beams and waits until he's only a few meters away before firing his rockets attached under the wings and firing his machine guns into the Neuroi's thick black skin. Aran's wingman does the same and together they inflect a lot of damage to both sides of the Neuroi before Rick and Neal dive down towards the Neuroi dealing devastating damage to the Neuroi's back but as they pull out of the attack a beam strikes Rick's plane blowing it right out of the sky in a bright fiery explosion.

"Shit everyone circle back around and attack it in the rear" Aran orders as he turns his aircraft around and lines his gun sights up behind the Neuroi as it starts to descend into the clouds. "We need to stop it before it reaches the clouds, give it all you got"

The three fighters begin to fire at the Neuroi's tail but they are only able to inflict minor damage and barely scratch its surface. The Neuroi doesn't fire back and when beams eventually do start flying the come from behind the fighters sending Neal into a deadly spin towards the ground as a beam blows off his right wing.

"Break off and get eyes on the new contact" Aran orders Garry and both of the pilots begin to pull up and turn their aircrafts around but Garry doesn't make it as three beams strike his aircraft causing the whole plane to explode, another beam hits Aran's engine completely destroying it and sending him down towards the clouds. "There's twenty small Neuroi advancing behind the large one we need…" Aran begins to report but fails to finish as a beam strikes his cockpit killing him instantly.

* * *

No. 578 Squadron RAF Base Britannia

Cyril Joe Barton

By the time the Neuroi are in sight and the anti-aircraft guns open fire Cyril has managed to get all of the new recruits into the shelter and has just sealed the door behind him when the first sounds and vibrations of impacting beams are felt throughout the shelter.

"Are we safe down here sir?" One of the new recruits asks and Cyril can see the terror written all over his face.

"Yeah their beam won't be able to reach us down here right?" Another equally scared recruit asks.

"Everyone, listen up we are perfectly safe down here…" Cyril answers but as to stop as a beam strikes the shelter causing a deafening roar and powerful vibration knocking everyone over. "See even a direct hit like that could harm us"

* * *

Sky's over Britannia

504th Joint Fighter Wing

Takei Junko

Takei was leading the 504th response team as they move to destroy the Neuroi attack the airfield. With Takei are her wingman Patricia Schade and the two Liberion witches Dominica S. Gentile and her wingman Jane T. Godfrey, the rest of the 504th have been deployed to the south another large class Neuroi is moving across the Channel.

"Target sited 500 meters up a head twenty small Neuroi shaped like cubes, unable to get visual on the large class Neuroi" Takei reports as she and the other witches charge towards the Neuroi. "Everyone we are going to charge through the centre and draw their attention away from the airfield"

"Yes ma'am" The witches reply as they switch off the safeties on their weapons and take aim.

The witches accelerate traveling as fast as their Strikers will allow them towards the Neuroi and burst through the centre of the Neuroi guns blazing destroying four Neuroi cubes before pulling up on the other side. Takei's plan works and the Neuroi immediately chases after them. The witches cut of their engines and falls down towards the Neuroi before restarting them and charging the Neuroi head on firing fully automatic at the advancing Neuroi destroying anther ten Neuroi as the dive through the Neuroi. The witches pull up with less than a meter to spare before slamming into the ground before flipping over and flying on their backs firing at and destroying the remaining Neuroi before they knew what hit them.

"Good work now spread out and…" Takei began to say only to be interrupted by a large powerful beam shooting out of the clouds towards Takei who only just manages to put up her shield in time to block it. "Return fire and try and lure it out of the clouds" Takei orders as several more beams shoot out of the clouds towards the witches.

The white clouds turn black as beams continue to rain down from it onto the base and witches and the red marks of the Neuroi are starting to become visible as it descends lower in the clouds. The Neuroi continues to fire as it descends lower and lower through the clouds soon displaying its serpent body to the witches.

"Dominica and Jane attack the Neuroi from above and find its core. Patricia come with me and me help draw its fire" Takei orders as she moves in front of the Neuroi and empties her magazine into the Neuroi's snake head. Patricia isn't fare behind and by the time Takei's magazine is empty she's there firing into the serpents mouth.

Dominica and Jane quickly begin their attack using the clouds for cover as they rain down bullets onto the Neuroi's back causing massive amounts of damage as huge chunks of the Neuroi break off and fall's the ground before disintegrates. The Neuroi tries to fire back but the witches are too hard to spot through the thick clouds making all attempts of a counter attack from the Neuroi impossible against the elusive witches. In less than a minute the two witches find and destroy the core shattering the Neuroi's body till all that remains are small shinny fragments.

* * *

The Citadel

Alex Franco

Alex, Ryan, Sarah and Elder Lyon was sitting in the Elder's office drinking to Nathan's memory as everyone here has known him for several years and losing him was a real shock because all of them has seen him walk away from worse than that explosion that claimed his life.

"I never thought this day would come" Alex quietly says afraid that if he speaks any louder the others will detect to sadness in his voice. "I never though Nathan would of died"

"Yeah me never" Ryan adds. "I always thought he would have had a long life after the shit he lived through"

"Well I feel sorry for his niece" Sarah says as tears seep down her cheeks. "She loved him so much that I can't imagine how his death would affect her"

"Yeah but I'll tell her" Alex says. "I'll tell her on my way to the G.E.C.K factory"

"So you have your next mission then" Ryan asks.

"Yes unfortunately this needs to be done quickly before the Enclave get there" Elder Lyon says with a sigh wishing that he didn't have to send out Alex's squad on a mission so quickly as the phone on the Elder's desk starts to ring. Elder Lyon answers it, Alex doesn't pay attention to a word he's saying until he hangs up the phone. "I have some bad news. Boston has fallen to the Enclave"


	19. The Calm Before The Storm Part 1

The Citadel

Ursula Hartmann

Ursula has only known Guy for less than a week but it's become clear that she and Guy won't get along and probable never will. Guy is the coldest and most vile person Ursula has ever meet, he's mean to her, he trips and pushes her over and won't stop calling her "Outsider" whatever that mean. The other witches aren't from here but Ursula has seen him being nice to them, Ryan the "Lone Wanderer" and Guy gets on fine together so he's only got a problem with one "Outsider" her.

Today she has been working all day beside him repairing a damaged Sentry bot and never of them has said a single word to each other. They could work like this in complete silence perfectly find as both of them can easily figure out what's wrong and have the knowledge to mend the problem.

"Well Outsider it looks like we're done so you should get out of my sight" Guy coldly tells her not even looking at her as he speaks.

"Why are you so cruel to me?" Ursula asks him firmly placing herself beside him determined to get an answer. "I have never done anything wrong to you"

"All Outsiders are dumb, filthy and uncivilised; they have no place in the Brotherhood, Outsiders are only good as expendable soldiers!" Guy soundly explodes looking at Ursula with such hatred that it chills the blood in her veins and sends shivers down her spine "You and any other Outsider has no place in here with are brightest minds!"

"But I am not stupid!" Ursula shouts back. "I can repair your people's weapons and machines just as good as you if you are calling me stupid then you are calling yourself…" Ursula doesn't get to finish her rant at the next thing she knows she's looking up at the ceiling with a throbbing pain coming from her left cheek. When she looks back at Guy and sees him looking down at her with his fists clenched it becomes clear that he punched her. "Why did you just hit me for?"

"Because you're an Outsider who needs to learn her place and never in a million years will you be as smart as me and even on an off day I am not as stupid as you are on a good day now get out of her before I catch your stupidity!" Guy shouts at her before he spites in her face and walks off.

* * *

Hanna-Justina Marseille

"Hanna will you please tell me what is wrong with you?" Erica asks Hanna as she sneaks up on Hanna who was on the roof learning over the edge trying to gather her thoughts. "Don't say your fine because I've known you for long enough to know when something's wrong with you"

"You know I'm fine then…" Hanna replies brushing off the question as she turns round to face her but Erica stops her not believing a word she's just said.

"No you're not fine and you know it" Erica says more firmly placing her hands on Hanna's shoulder. "You're missing shots that you are normally able to make in your sleep, you're becoming less talkative well you are normally seeking attention and also I've seen you have at least two nervous breakdowns so don't tell me you're fine"

"Ok I'm not fine now leave me alone and let me deal with it" Hanna bitterly admits as she shakes off Erica's hands and turns back around to enjoy the view.

"No, I won't leave you alone you need help and I'm your friend" Erica tells her spinning Hanna back around forcing her to look her in the eye. "I'm here for you and want to help so please tell me what's wrong and let me help you"

"I don't need…" Hanna began to say but her tongue freezes in her mouth when she sees the bloody girl appear out of thin air behind Erica and begins to walk towards her with a scary smile on her face with blood staining her teeth and blood dripping from her mouth leaving a red trail down her chin. "Furau"

"What's wrong Hanna you don't look right?" Erica asks with a concerned look on her face as the bloody girl wraps her arms around her body. How can she not know she's there? Hanna thinks as the girl hugs her and rests her chin on top of Erica's head turning her blond hair a dark red and her arms coat her black Karlsland Air force uninform in blood which begins to run down her jacket to her bare legs. "Hanna are you ok?" How doesn't she notice her? Hanna thinks as the girls smile grows even bigger and blood pours out of it and over Erica's face.

"Maybe I'll kill your little friend before you" The bloody girl says as her finger nails suddenly grows into long sharp claws and begin to cut into Erica's flesh drawing blood while Erica continues to look worried at Hanna unaware of the girl covering her in bright red blood while digging the her claws into Erica's skin. "I can't decide if it should be quick or slow, painless or painful. How do you think she should die?"

"Leave her alone and get out of here!" Hanna screams at the girl as her claws cut open Erica's throat. "Your fight is with me not her!"

"Who are you talking to there's no one else here?" Erica asks seemingly unaware of the fact that her throat has been slit or there's a blood soaked girl with her arms wrapped around her.

"If you tell her I'll make her death as slow and painful as possible" The bloody girl taunts ripping off Erica's left ear.

"You won't touch!" Hanna threatens as the girl begins to shove her finger into her left eye making Hanna sick to her stomach. "If you kill her then for every seconded she suffers I'll personal make you suffer for an hour"

"Hanna who are you talking to?" Erica asks as the bloody girl disappears and all the blood covering Erica from head to toe disappears with her. As soon as the girl is gone Erica missing ear and eye reappear and all the deep cuts inflected on her also vanish along with the blood and girl. "Hanna who are you talking to?"

"How can you not see her?" Hanna asks as she wipes of the sweat that has gathered on her forehead. "She had her arms around you and covered you in blood"

"That never happened now calm down and tell me what's wrong so I can help you" Erica says ever not believing or ignoring what Hanna just tells her.

* * *

Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

Eila awakens to a massive explosion that shakes her room so much that the ceiling creaks and large chunks falls off. Her room fills with dust as another equally powerful explosion knocks her off her bed. Screaming, shouting and calls for help fill the air and the glow of fires lights up the dust floating around the room. Three more powerful explosions hit one after the other one of which blows a small hole in her bedroom wall allowing her to see out into the courtyard which is now ablaze turning the morning sky black with smoke.

Outside Eila can see Yoshika and Lynne running from one injured person to another treating there wounds before quickly moving on the next injured person, Gertrud, Erica, Minna and Sakamoto are firing up at something flying around in the sky, Perrine, Sanya, Shirley and Lucchini are only just arriving carrying their weapons into the courtyard. All of the witches fighting out there looks pale and are clenching their teeth's, something has clearly got them scared.

Wanting to figure out what's wrong Eila climbs out of the hole in her bed room wall and runs directly for Sanya but ends up tripping over something lying in front of her. As Eila gets back up she looks back to see what she tripped on and finds the gruesome bloody remains of Hanna. Hanna has been split in half with her guts stretched out between her two half's and a giant pool of blood all around her body dyeing her uniform a dark red. In a panic Eila falls back down looking up at the attacker, a giant Neuroi shaped like a sphere firing down onto the Citadel.

Eila watches as a beam drops down onto Gertrud but she easily gets her shield up in time blocking the powerful beam, unfortunately there's a second beam that strikes the wall behind her not only killing her but Minna, Erica and Sakamoto as while. The Neuroi also fires a third beam this time striking in-between Yoshika and Lynne who never seen it coming as they continue to treat a wounded man killing both of the instantly. The Neuroi fires again after a few seconds this time aimed in front of Shirley and Lucchini, they see the beam coming and try to run for cover but they don't run fast enough as the beam strikes the ground sending both of their dead bodies flying across the courtyard.

"You Killed her! You killed my Major!" Perrine screams as she shoots a bolt of lightning with all her might towards the Neuroi. Her attack hits the Neuroi dead on cursing several large creaks to appear all over its body. Her success is short lived however as the Neuroi sends a beam her way before she's had a chance to recover from casting that spell hitting her body splattering her blood all over the wall behind her.

Eila's gaze quickly turns towards Sanya making her heart stop as she sees her lying next to the wall trapped under a steel beam with blood pouring from a cut on her head and both her legs crushed under the steel beam. Sanya is lying there coughing up blood trying desperately to free her crushed legs from under the steel beam with a look on her face that makes Eila's heart freeze, Sanya's in agony and its written all over her face.

"Sanya don't move I'm coming!" Eila shouts as she starts to run towards her trapped friend.

"Eila please help. It hurts so much" Sanya weakly replies making Eila's heart ache as if felling her friend's pain.

"Try not to move I'll be there in a minute" Eila tells her and Sanya slowly nods in response. Eila runs as quick as she can towards her friend but she doesn't make it in time as just before she reaches Sanya a beam falls down from the Neuroi above striking Sanya's body and sending Eila flying back into a wall on the opposite side of the courtyard. Eila is left lying on the ground struggling for breath with a painful burning sensation coming from her face and arms and to her surprise she can't get her legs to move. "Sa… San… San… Sanya… Sanya! Sanya are you ok? Answer me Sanya!" Eila looks over to where her friend was lying still struggling for breath and finds a large smoky creator where Sanya once was. "Sanya, oh please no" Eila sobs collapsing to the ground as tears flood out of her eyes. "Sanya, you killed her, you killed Sanya you fucking bastard!" Eila screams as she turns her frustrations and anger up towards the Neuroi. Eila isn't left to suffer long as the Neuroi sends a beam towards her engulfing her entire body aits bright red beam. "I'm coming Sanya"

Eila is left in blackness blacker and darker than anything she's seen before unable to move her body a single inch. There is nothing around her or at least anything she can see except for a dull light that is slowly getting brighter and brighter until finally after a few minutes turns into the floating orb Eila knows as the sprite.

"You have two weeks" The sprite says. "If you fail to stop the Enclave in two weeks then what you just saw will come to be"

"How do we stop them?" Eila weakly asks still trying to get rid of the image of Sanya being struck by the beam that ended her life. "I'll do anything to stop Sanya from dying"

"Their fleet is docked in New York" The sprite tells her. "On board the carrier is the machine that connects your world to this one, you can use it to go home then have the Brotherhood destroy it to prevent what you just saw from happening"

"Ok I'll tell the others" Eila says feeling full of hope stopping her tears as the thought of finally returning home enters her brain.

"Wait there's something else you should know" The sprite says interrupting her thoughts. "You have to strike it two days from now leaving only an hour before the bridge between the worlds is established if you want to go home, any sooner than the machine won't have enough power to take you home"

"What time will it activate?"

"Midday"

As the sprite says those last words it fades into the blackness around it leaving Eila alone in the darkness again. She stays in the darkness for who knows how long trying to forget Sanya's horrible pending death before she finally wakes up safe and sound in her bed not seeing a single bit of the destruction she just witnessed.

* * *

Sanya V. Litvyak

Sanya walks into the room she shares with Eila and straight arms. Sanya is immediately knocked over looking up at the ceiling feel a damp spot grow rapidly on her shoulder telling her that her friend has been crying.

"Eila are you alright?" Sanya quietly asks as she wraps her arms around Eila's back returning her friends hug.

"No I… I thought I lost you" Eila answers as she begins to cry into her friends shoulder making the damp spot rapidly grow. "I had another vision… I saw… Saw all of us… The witches… die"

"Eila calm down we won't die" Sanya calmly tells her stroking the back of her head. "We won't die, not now that you saw it. Now we can stop it from happening now that you saw it"

"Yes and I also know how to get home and stop the Enclave at the same time" Eila says sounding a bit more cheerful. "But we have to act in two days and our window of opportunity is only lasts an hour"

"While we can make it work, like Sakamoto always says "There's nothing a witch can't do" Sanya says cheering her friend up.

"Yeah there's nothing a witch can't do" Eila replies getting to her feet and helping Sanya up in the process. "I'll go tell Minna and Sakamoto right away"

"I'll see you later Eila" Sanya calls out as Eila runs off.

"Yeah see you later" Eila calls back as she disappears round the corner.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

Shirley was sat on the floor leaning against a brick wall in the middle of the courtyard looking up at the sky while Lucchini lies sleeping on her lap. She must be having a good dream because she hasn't stopped smiling since she fell asleep. Shirley has been trying to sit as still as possible so she doesn't wake the young witch from what really must be a good dream, Lucchini has been through enough recently and Shirley can't even imagine why she should wake her up and drag her out of her blissful slumber into the cruel world around her.

Shirley really wishes that they can make it back home soon as this world has begun to change the young Lucchini, she used to be happy, carefree and running around groping every girl she could but now she's jumpy, too afraid to leave Shirley's side and doesn't seem interested in breasts at all. First those robots attacked, then Lynne nearly died and those monsters attacked us in the valley, all of which took its toll on Lucchini scaring her to death. So Shirley just sat there watching the birds fly overhead, stroking Lucchini's hair and waiting for Lucchini to wake up. Lucchini unfortunately wakes up a lot sooner than Shirley would have liked stretching and yawning her way out of her happy dreams and into the harsh world brutal world.

"Morning Lucchini" Shirley quietly says as the young witch sits up. "What did you dream about? It looked like you were having a good dream"

"I was dreaming about home" Lucchini says as she tucks her knees up to her chest and hugs herself as a large smile appears on her face. "I was back home with my family and there was no Neuroi"

"That sounds nice I…" Shirley began to say as she patted Lucchini on the head but stops when she realizes that Lucchini has begun to quietly cry. "Lucchini what's wrong that was a lovely dream it can't of made you this upset?"

"I miss them, I miss my family and I am never going to see them again" Lucchini sobs. "We are never going to make it back home. We're never going to, we will here in this dead world and I'll never see my family again"

"Don't say that, you, I and everyone else in the 501st are going to make it back alive" Shirley says pulling Lucchini in for a tight warm hug. "So don't ever say that because I promise you that you'll make it back home to your family in one piece"

"Do you really think so?" Lucchini asks looking up at Shirley with tear filled eyes.

"Yes and you know why?" Shirley replies with a smile on her face. Lucchini looks at her with tears leaving her eyes at a slower pace waiting for Shirley to continue. "We're the 501st Joint Fighter Wing the best of the best amongst the witches so there's no way we'll never make it back home and be stuck here forever"

* * *

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika wakes up and finds herself wrapped up in Lynne's arms and her face buried between Lynne's bare breasts. Yoshika couldn't help but blush when she sees the position she's in, she has seen Lynne naked plenty of times and Lynne's seen her naked just as much since they've been together but Yoshika still can't help but blush at the sight of Lynne's exposed breasts.

"Good morning Yoshika" Lynne cheerfully says as she sits up. Yoshika didn't even realize she Lynne was awake and had been watching her sleep for the last couple of minutes.

"Good morning Lynne" Yoshika says as she stretches out her tired limbs. "I'm glad we have the day off and could lie in for once"

"Yeah we really needed it" Lynne replies with a cheerful smile. "We haven't had a break since we got here"

"Yeah now let's go get something to eat I'm starving" Yoshika says laughing off the loud growls of her stomach.

"Oh I went and got us some already well you were sleeping so we can have breakfast in bed" Lynne says as she picks up a blow from beside the bed and takes out a piece of fruit. "Now open up"

"That's delicious what is it?" Yoshika ask after chewing on a piece of fruit Lynne placed in her mouth.

"Dean called it Mutfruit" Lynne answers as she rolls around the tiny blue piece of fruit between her fingers. "Apparently there's this place nearby called Oasis that is the only place in the world were these things grow"

"That's a shame I wish they could grow anywhere because they are so good" Yoshika says as Lynne places another piece in her mouth. "Now it's your turn to open up"

"But you don't…" Lynne began to say not seeing anything in Yoshika's hands but is stopped by Yoshika's lips pressing against her own as her tongue invades Lynne's mouth placing the Mutfruit Lynne just placed in Yoshika's mouth on her own tongue instantly spreading it's sweetness all over Lynne's tongue. "You're right they are delicious"

"Yeah they are but I still prefer the taste of your lips though" Yoshika says causing Lynne's face to redden.

"Thank you your lips taste good too" Lynne replies still getting redder in the face. "Now then lets it's your turn to open up" Lynne says as she places a Mutfruit in her mouth. "Say ah"

They spend the next half hour feeding each other pieces of fruit from their mouths each time their lips meet they stay together longer and longer and their tongues play more and more together. Before long they've stop feed each other fruit and started kissing each other with Yoshika on top pushing Lynne down onto the soft small bed they share kissing Lynne with all the passion she can muster while her hands comb through Lynne's hair. Lynne is kissing back with just as much passion as her hand run along Yoshika's bare back making Yoshika shiver when her fingers travel the length of her spine.

Yoshika's lips begin to leave Lynne's traveling down her lover's neck where Yoshika makes sure to kiss all of the sensitive spots on Lynne's neck making Lynne shiver and forcing a quiet moan from her lips. Yoshika smiling in triumph at making her girlfriend moan continues her way down past her neck and onto her breasts. Yoshika takes her time kissing the area all around Lynne's nipples but being careful not to touch them. Yoshika's been like this since they first made love, she always loved Lynne's breast and would always take her time exploring every inch of them before moving on and this time was no exception Yoshika continued to kiss one breast while her one of her hands played with the other still making sure that she doesn't touch Lynne's nipples which at this pint are stiff and aching to be touched.

Eventually Yoshika finally took one of Lynne's nipples into her mouth and began to gently suck on it while using her hand to softly squeeze and roll her other nipple. Lynne's nipples were extremely sensitive thanks to all that teasing that Yoshika did before and now she can't help but moan and cry out in pleasure as her lover continues to suck on her nipple like a baby making her feel so good. After a minute of suck one breast Yoshika switched and began to give equal treatment to her other nipple leaving the first one feeling cold making Lynne gasps while her other hand raises up and begins to play with the nipple Yoshika's mouth just left.

"Oh Yoshika" Lynne cry's out as Yoshika lightly bites down on her nipple and start to role it around with her tough. Yoshika knew Lynne loved this and saved it for last before she left her breasts. "Yoshika that's… That's…" Yoshika's playful tongue over Lynne's nipple leaves her unable to complete a single sentence making Yoshika smile over Lynne's breast as her girlfriend can do nothing but moan out in pleasure.

Just as Lynne's moans become nearly deafening Yoshika leaves her breasts and begins to slowly kiss's a trail down her stomach stopping at her belly button briefly before she proceeds down lower. Yoshika's lips bypass Lynne's crotch and instead got to her inner thighs causing more shivers from Lynne as Yoshika kiss one thigh while using her hand to rub the other slowly spreading Lynne's legs open. Yoshika's hand trails up Lynne's inner thigh gently brushing it as it makes its way towards Lynne's crotch, when it finally reaches its destination Yoshika gently runs one of her fingers over Lynne's slit finding it soaking wet.

"You're so wet down there Lynne" Yoshika says feeling victorious after making Lynne as wet as she is now.

"That's because you make me feel… good" Lynne replies gasping as Yoshika's tongue travels up her slit before circling her clitoris.

"I'm about to make you feel even better though" Yoshika says with a smile before going back to Lynne's pussy.

Yoshika repeats the process only this time as she circles Lynne's clitoris she gently pushes two fingers inside of her tight pussy making Lynne let out a loud moan and squeeze Yoshika between her thighs. Lynne's always been sensitive down her and after all the times Yoshika has been in this position she knows exactly how Lynne likes it. Yoshika slowly starts to move her fingers in and out of Lynne's pussy while she roles and flicks her clitoris around with her tongue. The whole time Lynne arch's her back pressing her pussy against Yoshika face, squeezing her thighs together tightly wrapping them around Yoshika's head as she grips the blanket tightly with both hands moaning and crying out in pleasure so loud that everyone in the Citadel probably could hear her.

"Oh Yoshika I… I… Yoshika I'm!" Lynne cries out as she reaches her limit and Yoshika sends her over the edge screaming into her orgasm.

* * *

Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

"Yoshika that was amazing" Lynne says as Yoshika crawls up beside her so they can cuddle. "You always make me feel so good"

"I'm glad I do" Yoshika replies wrapping her hands around Lynne. "It would be terrible if you told me I was doing a bad job"

"Well you do a great job and my orgasm just now is proof of that" Lynne says with a smile on her face.

"Thank…" Yoshika began to say but Lynne cuts her off by rolling on top of her so she's now straddling her.

"It's me that should be thanking you" Lynne says as she leans down so her lips are only millimetres above Yoshika's. "Now allow me to return the favour"

As soon as Lynne finishes speaking her lips are on Yoshika's kissing her before Yoshika can reply. Their tongues meet each other and Yoshika soon lets Lynne's tongue dominate her own and letting Lynne be in complete control of the situation. After a few minutes of kiss Lynne's lips separate from Yoshika's but instead of traveling down her neck like Yoshika did to her Lynne first kiss Yoshika's earlobe knowing how much Yoshika enjoyed being kissed there. After planting several kisses to her earlobe Lynne kiss her down the side of the neck only stopping when she reaches her shoulder. Lynne plants several light kiss on Yoshika's collar bone making Yoshika release a quiet moan from her lips.

Lynne then returns Yoshika's treatment of her breasts by kiss all around her small breasts but never touching her nipples making Yoshika's let out quiet moans. Yoshika may not have large breasts but what she does have is more than enough for Lynne to play with. Lynne continues to plant kisses on Yoshika's breasts circling around her nipples until she can't wait any more and sticks one of Yoshika's nipples in her mouth getting a loud moan from Yoshika in return. Lynne goes from nipple to nipple using her tongue to flick and roll around each nipple Yoshika moan and shake her head from side to side as Lynne continues to play with her nipples. After a few minutes Lynne leaves Yoshika's kissing her way down Yoshika's stomach and like Yoshika she avoids her crotch going instead to Yoshika's thighs. She keeps on kisses Yoshika's thighs until she feels them melt under her lips, after that she mimics Yoshika by gently running her finger along her slit before lifting her hand up to her eyes where she finds her finger glistening with Yoshika's wetness.

"You're so wet down there Yoshika" Lynne says with a grin as she mimics Yoshika's voice when she said the same thing to her just minutes ago.

"That's because of you Lynne" Yoshika replies as Lynne gets between her legs and stares at her soaking wet pussy.

Lynne begins to slowly lick Yoshika's pussy instantly making Yoshika moan and cry out in pleasure as Lynne's tongue repeatedly runs up and down her slit, flicking and circling her clitoris with each stroke of her tongue forcing a moan Yoshika's lips. Lynne began to pick up the pace with her tongue running it faster and faster over her slit and clitoris making Yoshika moan louder and louder the faster she went. Yoshika's hands instantly presses onto the back of Lynne's head while her thighs tightly wrap round the sides keeping Lynne's face buried in her pussy. Lynne easily manages to insert a finger into Yoshika's pussy as her mouth moved over her clitoris. Yoshika's body know bucks uncontrollably and her moans are becoming louder and louder as Lynne continue to pump her finger in and out of her while sucking on her clitoris.

"Lynne I… I think" Yoshika says in between moans as Lynne takes her closer to her limit and with a few more fast pumps from Lynne's finger in her pussy Yoshika is finally sent over the edge aching her back pushing her pussy into Lynne's face as she climaxes.

* * *

Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke

Minna was with Sakamoto, Gertrud and Erica in the dining hall eating breakfast while the radio play's over the intercom system a song about some Outlaw from the Wild Western times. Minna doesn't like the song very much but the breakfast is one of the best she's ever had. The Mutfruit she is eating is sweet and the taste lasts on her tongue long after she swallowed the fruit.

"Do you think we can bring some of these back with us when we return home?" Erica asks after emptying her bowl.

"We'll have to wait and see if we can or not" Minna replies before eating the last of her Mutfruit. "We still don't know how to get home and if we can take anything with us when we do. If you remember when we first arrived here our Strikers and weapons were missing even though we had them with us when we got sent here"

"The food back home is good enough so we don't really need to bring any back with us" Gertrud tells Erica as she slowly eats her breakfast.

"Come on I bet you would love to bring some back for Chris" Erica says as she steals a hand full of Mutfruit from Gertrud's bowl. "You'll probable use these to lure her into bed with you"

"I am not a siscon how many times do I need to tell you!" Gertrud suddenly tells her going red in the face as Erica sits there laughing at Gertrud's reaction. "Also don't steal my food"

"Um Minna there's something I need to tell you" Someone calls out from behind the group and everyone turns round to see Eila stood there with red puffy eyes looking like she's been crying recently.

"Eila are you ok?" Minna asks as she sees how much Eila's been crying.

"I'm fine I just had another vision that was worse than the others I had so far" Eila answers whipping her eyes clear of any remaining tears. "I saw the Neuroi conquer this place and all of us dying"

"Do you know when this will happen?" Sakamoto asks as she drops her plate on the floor that shatters loudly on impact scattering shape shards of plate and Mutfruit berries all over the floor.

"We have two days to stop them" Eila says. "There's a machine on board the carrier of the Enclave fleet docked in New York, also there's a way to go home"

"What, how?" Gertrud asks giving Eila her full attention.

"If we attack at midday, two days from now then can go back home" Eila answers.


	20. The Calm Before The Storm Part 2

The Citadel

Miyafuji Yoshika

Yoshika wakes up warped in Lynne's warmth with her head resting gently on her girlfriends soft large breasts. A smile creeps onto her face as she continue s to lay there completely still not wanting to wake Lynne up who from the sound of her heart steadily beating in her chest must be having a good dream. From her room Yoshika can her a lot of movement and shouting coming from the courtyard, the nose is louder than normal and it a surprise that Lynne hasn't woken up yet. Something is up and its something big. The noise, amount of loud marching feet and shouting all point to a large attack being lunched soon.

Yoshika can barely make out what they are saying outside but she can hear a few key words. "New York", "Fleet" and Machine are the only words she can make out from the commotion outside, Yoshika can only guess at what they mean but she can say for certain that she and the rest of the witches will be heading for New York. Unfortunately with all the noise now flooding into her room Lynne starts to stair and even more unfortunately Lynne squeezes Yoshika's face into her breasts cutting off all oxygen to Yoshika's lungs.

"Oh Yoshika I'm sorry" Lynne says as she suddenly notices her lover desperately fighting for are buried in her breasts. "I'm sorry Yoshika I didn't mean to hurt you"

"It's... It's ok... Lynne... I know you... you would never hurt... me" Yoshika replies as Lynne frees her and she desperately breaths in large breaths of air. "Anyway... do you... know what's... going on?"

"No I don't sorry" Lynne answers still worried about Yoshika who's still gasping for air. "Are you sure you are ok?"

"Yeah... I'm fine" Yoshika tells her while giving her a reassuring smile.

"That's good" Lynne says as she stretches her tired limbs. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sounds good" Yoshika answers as she finally gets her breath back.

* * *

Gertrud Barkhorn

"Hey Trude I'm worried about Hanna" Erica says sounding slightly depressed. "She told me she keeps seeing this ghost of a girl she killed here before we found her and that the ghost is trying to kill her and threatened to kill me too"

"While I guess the star of Africa has finally gone crazy" Gertrud replies sleepily as she wakes up. "But she has never been right in the head to begin with if you ask me"

"Please take this seriously Trude I think she's telling the truth" Erica says more seriously than before. "Before she told me this she said she sure the ghost stood behind me covering me with blood and she looked genuinely scared, I don't think she's making this up Trude"

"Come on you know Hanna used to be scared of her own shadow before she let that "Star of Africa" crap get to her had" Gertrud says as she sits up stretching out her arms. "It's probably just that now she's lost her fame she's becoming that scared little cowered she used to be"

"Why can't you help her when she clearly needs it Trude?" Erica asks more forceful then she intended. "If this is because she dumped you hen you aren't as mature as you clam to be and are just as childish as Lucchini"

"I got over that she dumped me in less than a day after she dumped me!" Gertrud answers a lot louder then she intended as tears start to form in her eyes. "I was glad we broke up be her glutting really started to get on my nerves at that point" She adds as she turns her head away from Erica in an attempt to hide her tears. "And I mainly won't help because ghost don't exist!"

Silence fills the room for a few seconds after Gertrud shouts out her last comment still not looking towards Erica desperately hiding her watery eyes away from her friend. She can't let her weakness show, a soldier of Karlsland must be strong and mustn't show any sign of weakness. If Erica saw her eyes watery then she'll never let her live it down so her weakness must remain hidden at all coast. For a few silent seconds Gertrud hid her face while the sound of busy soldiers readying all the supplies need for the upcoming assault fills their room.

"Fine Trude but if you want any chance of getting her back then you must be willing to believe and help her" Erica says as she gets up to leave. "It's clear to everyone that you still like her and are still upset about being dumped"

"I am not in love with her!" Gertrud shouts after her friend who's just reached the door.

"Then why are your eyes watery?" Erica asks without looking back as she leaves their room.

* * *

Africa three years ago

Gertrud was in her tent writing a letter back home to her little sister Chris who's home safe in Berlin. Gertrud has only been away from home and her darling little sister Chris for two weeks after her unit was sent to reinforce the 31st Joint Fighter Wing in North Africa. The Neuroi has not yet appeared in Europe and the European Nations hope that they can hold the Neuroi in Africa and prevent them from reaching Europe.

Africa has become a bloodbath after countless battles against the advancing Neuroi with every battle resulting in massive casualties. Gertrud has only been here for a short time and know that war was bloody and full of death but still the amount of wounded and dead that filled her cam was way beyond anything she believed possible, at least half of the tents in the camp are filled with wounded soldiers and the dead have be buried in a large mass grave twice the size of the camp.

Gertrud has only just woken up and is ready for what ever the day will throw at her and to fulfil her duty as a soldier of Karlsland unlike two of her room mates. Erica Hartmann is still asleep and Hanna-Justina Marseille is up and getting dressed but her hands are shaking so much that she can barely put her clothes on, at least her other room mate Cecilia Glinda Miles a Britannian Tank Witch was up and ready. They all came over together at the same time wanting to stop the Neuroi here before they reach their homelands and lie them in ruins.

"So who gets the pleasure of waking Erica up today?" Cecilia asks as all three of the awake witches turn towards the snoring Erica.

"Well Erica's Trude's friend so she should do it" Hanna says flinching as the words leave her lips afraid of Gertrud's retaliation.

"Agreed so good luck Trude" Cecilia says as she quickly leaves and pulls Hanna out of the tent with her.

"Great Hartmann duty again" Gertrud quietly mumbles to herself as she turns back around to find Erica now sitting up and staring at her with sleepy eyes. "Good your awake now hurry up and get dressed so we can go and have some breakfast"

"I'm not hungry" Erica says with a yawn. "I'm going back to bed"

"No your not your getting up right now!" Gertrud yells as she tries to pull Hartmann's blanket off of her only to find Erica's got a firm strong grip on it. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

"Because Hartmann duty isn't meant to be easy" Erica answerers as she grips her blanket even more tightly.

* * *

The Citadel

Sanya V. Litvyak

Sanya has been sat on top of the roof of the Citadel since before sunrise unable to sleep as she is still use to sleeping only up during the day. She climbed on to the roof after failing to fall back to sleep after waking from a nightmare were she show all of the witches heads placed on top of spikes above the entrance to the now burning Citadel. She climbed up there to avoid waking Eila as she rolled around on her bed trying to fall back to sleep. She's so glad that she did climb up here but wishes Eila was here with her as the sun rising over the ruined city she is watching is the most beautiful sight she has ever seen.

Sanya couldn't help but feel warm inside as she thinks about her friend, she doesn't know why but whenever she's close to or hears Eila's voice she feels so warm, safe and for reasons even more confusing to her is that her heart would beat faster and faster the closer she was to her friend. She can't understand why she feels what she does or why her body reacts the way it does whenever she's close to Eila, it is only this pass year that these feelings have appeared within her when they were stationed together in Britannia with the 501st. All the time they were both stationed in Suomus she never felt anything like this towards her friend.

Another feeling that she has recently felt concerning Eila is jealousy. She felt jealous of every witch in the 501st when she and Lucchini would go round and grope the girls and even competing to see who could grope the new witches first. Every time Sanya would see Eila grope another girl she would secretly wish that Eila was groping her instead and would wish that Eila would let the other girl go because for every passing second Eila had another girls breast in her hands Sanya would have to struggle to hold in the tears that would fill her eyes.

"Mind if I join you?" A small voice asks from behind her and Sanya turns round to see Eila stood there wearing a whit robe.

"No I don't mind" Sanya replies with a sweat small smile and Eila instantly walks over to join her. "Aren't you cold?"

"No I'm fine I'm used to cold weather" Eila answers as she turns down and returns her friends smile. "I take it you couldn't sleep"

"Not for long" Sanya says deciding not to bring up her nightmare. "I guess I'm to use to night patrols to sleep at night"

"While hope you can get some rest soon as we don't have long till the operation to get us home starts" Eila says as she strokes Sanya's hair which causes Sanya's heart to skip a beat. "It's sure to be a hard fight so you should try to get as much rest as possible"

"I'll try" Sanya replies as she turns round to face the raising sun. She desperately want to tell her how she feels and try to make sense of them, she desperately wants to tell her to stop groping girls as it hurts her every time and she desperately wants her to stay by her side but Sanya can't find the courage to do so right now. When they get back to their own world, that's when she decides to tell her, as soon as they get back to there world.

* * *

Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

Shirley wakes up to a loud crash which makes her jump out of her skin and franticly scan the room for its source, it isn't easy to miss as Lucchini sits up off the floor holding her head and winching in pain.

"Are you alright Lucchini?" Shirley asks as she reaches out and starts to rub the newly formed lump on top of the young witches head.

"No my head hurts and I'm hungry" Lucchini says as she wipes away the tears in her eyes. "Can you kiss it better like my mama used to?"

"Alright then" Shirley says which brings a small smile to Lucchini's lips as she leans over and kisses Lucchini's lump. "That's your pain gone now lets get dressed and get some breakfast"

"Yeah food" Lucchini happily says comply changing from the hurt girl wiping away her tears just moments ago, food is the only thing that you can grantee will cheer Lucchini up. "D you think Yoshika will make me some Fuso food?"

"I'm sorry to say this but I doubt that the Brotherhood will have the ingredients for Fuso food. "All they seem to have is strange food I've never heard of before"

"Yes but some of it tastes great and Commander Minna seems to love everything here" Lucchini says as she and Shirley hurriedly get dressed.

"Yeah well Minna will eat and like anything even that disgusting liver oil that the Major ordered" Shirley tells her as she finishes getting dressed impressing Lucchini with her dressing speed as the young witch is still only half dressed.

* * *

Perrine H. Clostermann

Perrine was in the dining hall with Sakamoto, Minna, Hanna and Erica eating a breakfast of Bloatfly meat which is the most disgusting thing in the world according to Perrine who left her plate half filled, Minna seems to love the meat and is already on her second plate and Sakamoto is eating it saying she can tolerate the taste. Erica and Hanna have both only taken a single bite out of their meat and now just seem to be pushing the food around on their plates. The rest of the witches have been slowly joining them with Yoshika and Lynne being the first to arrive and Yoshika looks like she's about to throw up after her first bite of Bloatfly meat while Lynne seems to be like Minna and looks like she enjoys every mouthful of meat. Shirley and Lucchini enters next with Shirley refusing to even try the Bloatfly meat which Lucchini should have done as she throw up as soon as the meat hit her tong which made Yoshika throw up is well. Finally Gertrud enters looking upset and like she was recently crying she too doesn't even bother eating her breakfast.

"Something wrong Trude?" Minna asks as she finishes off her second piece of Bloatfly meat.

"No I'm just not hungry" Gertrud mumbles in reply.

"But don't you always eat to maintain your strength rather than to taste the food" Shirley asks waving around a piece of meat on the end of her fork.

"Yes and I already have strength to spare" Gertrud replies as she turns to Shirley.

"Really because you told me the strong don't cry and your eyes tell me you've been crying" Shirley points out while pointing to Gertrud's eyes.

"I haven't been crying Liberion now shut up" Gertrud warns Shirley while giving her a stare that gives Perrine the feeling that Gertrud might attack at any minute.

"Ok can you two take a deep breath and calm down and Erica and Shirley" Minna says mainly looking at Erica. "Stop teasing Trude"

As soon as Minna says those word Perrine feels a sudden warm spot cover her lap and when she looks down to see what caused it she see her lap is covered in sick and Yoshika is kneeling on the floor next to her.

"You Stupid Raccoon Dog!" Perrine yells at the sick Yoshika who throws up again but this time the edge of her sick pile covers Perrine's bare feet. "Watch where you're aiming you idiot!"

"Perrine calm down and tell me what's wrong" Sakamoto asks as everyone turns to face Perrine and see the lower half of her body covered in Yoshika's vomit. "Oh um well... Lynne Take Yoshika back to your room and Perrine you should wash up and we'll deal with this later"

"You should go Lay down too Francesca" Minna adds as she spots Lucchini throwing up into a nearby bin. "Make sure she gets some rest Shirley"

* * *

504th Joint Fighter Wing Base Britannia

Takei Junko

The morning air warms the bloody ground chewed by countless explosions. The Neuroi launched a large scale assault across the entire coast of Britannia last week and the dead still hasn't been collected, the wounded are still coming in and the missing are still lost. No one expected the Neuroi to launch such a large scale attack and most bases were caught off guard and thought their radars were malfunctioning when they picked up the massive Neuroi formation crossing the Channel, if it weren't for the witches Britannia might have fallen that day destroying the last hope of recapturing the European mainland.

But if the Neuroi attack again right now then Britannia probable couldn't hold out for more than a few weeks, the radar net surrounding the country now has several blind spots and most airfields, fortifications and patrol ships have been destroyed before the Neuroi assault was repelled. The witches are the ones now who have to cover the gapes n the defensive line, they fly patrols, they carry supplies to workmen repairing the radar net and the have to cover for the military strength lost in the attack.

"Hey Takei when are we going to get a break?" Martina asks as she runs up to Takei. "We've been working twenty hour shifts all week with very little breaks"

"Don't worry things will get back to normal soon" Takei says with a small smile on her face. "a supply convoy from Liberion and another from Fuso should arrive today and their aid should improve our situation"

"Well it better do because every one is exhausted" Martina moans.

"Don't worry things can only get better from here" Takei says cheerfully. "No go get some rest now while you can"


End file.
